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THE LIFE 



OF 



PATRICK HENRY 



OF VIRGINIA, 



BY S. G. ARNOLD. 



" Study men." — Patrick Henry. 



AUBURN AND BUFFALO: 

MILLER, ORTON & MULLIGAN". 

1854. 



Entered according to act of Congress, in the year 1845, by 
S. G. ARNOLD, 
in the Clerk's Office of the District Court, for the District of 
New Jersey , _^ 



TO J. SWINBURNE, ESQ, 

white plains, westchester, co., n..y. 
Sir:— 

Permit me to inscribe to you the brief Mernoir 
contained in these pages. Having long been one of the 
most able and successful instructors of youth in our 
country, you will, I am sure, appreciate this effort to 
bring into a compass more inviting to the young mind, 
,the interesting incidents of the celebrated Virginia Or- 
ator, who will ever rank among the greatest and purest 
of our statesmen. 

"With sentiments of true respect, 

I am yours, <fec., 

S. G. ARNOLD. 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER I. 

Mr. Henry's father and mother— His birth — His education— 
His indolent habits — Clerk in a store — In business as a mer- 
chant — Falls-rMarries and settles on a farm — Another store 
— Another failure — Extreme poverty — Studies law and is 
licensed— Tends the bar of his father-in-law's tavern. 

CHAPTER n. 

History of the celebrated suit of the Clergy against the Colony 
of Virginia, in which Mr. Henry first distinguished bimseK"— 
Extraordinary success — Removes to Louisa — Is called before a 
committee of the house of Burgesses. 

CHAPTER HI. 

State of the Colonies— History of the Stamp Act— Mr. Henry 
elected to the House of Burgesses — Dignity of the House — 
Society in Virgmla— Mr. Henry's First Speech. 

CHAPTER IV. 

Effect produced by Mr. Henry's First Speech — Introduces his 
Resolutions on the Stamp Act — Defends them with superhu- 
man Eloquence — Effect of their Adoption — Anecdote of the 
Debate — Indorsement found among Mr. Henry's Papers. 

CHAPTER V. 

JEfFects which followed the passage of the Stamp Act— Jts re- 
peal— Mr. Henry in the House— His Law Practice— Mr. Pitt- 
New Grievances of the Americans— Their EfTect- House o 
Burgesses— Auecdute of Mr. Henry. 



8 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER VI. 

Destruction of the Tea — Boston Port Bill — Tlie Virginia Surges, 
ses appoint the day on which the Port Bill was to take effect, 
as a day of Fasting- and Prayer — The Governon dissolves the 
House — First Virginia Convention — Fh'st Congress— Mr. Henry 
operis the proceedings of Congress with a splendid speech-j^-Is 
appointed on all the most important Commiiiees — Effect of 
the Congress abioaa. 

CHAPTER Vll. 

feeeond Virginia Convention — Its temporizing spirit — Mr. Henry 
introduces resolutions in favor of organizing the militia, and 
supports them with transcep'<.mt ability — The resolutions 
euopied — Other proceedings ot tiie Conveution and its adjourn 
ment. 

CHAPTER VIII. 

Commencement of hostilities at Coikoord— Governor Dun more 
procures the removal of twenty barrels of powder from the 
magazine in Williamsburgh — Spirit of the people on this oc- 
casion — Further aggressions of the Governor — Mr. Henry de- 
termines to require payment for the powder — Assembles the 
Hanover company and marches towards Wilhamsburg — Is met 
by the Governor's order — Governor's proclamation— Mr. Henry 
starts for Congress. 

CHAPTER IX. 

itfeeting of the second Congress — Its measures — Affairs in Vir- 
ginia — Retirement of Lord Dunmore and dissolution of the 
House — Meeting of the Convention — Mr. Henry appointed a 
Colonel and commander of all the military forces of Virginia — 
Resigns his commission. 



CONTENTS. 9 



CHAPTER X. 

Meeting of the Convention— Its action in relation to forming a 
new government — Mr. Henry ejected Governor — His reply to 
the House on being informed of his election — Congratulations 
and answers — The new government fuUy organized. 

. CHAPTER XL 

Duties of the Governor — Mr. Henry and the Dictatorship — 
Anonymous letter derogatory to Gen. Washington-^Washing- 
ton replies — Conway's apology to Gen. Washington — General 
Gates — Incident connected with Conway's cabal. 

CHAPTER Xn. 

Mr. Henry retires from the gubernatorial office — Changes in his 
family relations — Again returned to the House — Gen. Gales — 
Ravages of the enemy— The assembly— A Dictator— Mj, Henry 
advocates a return of the British refugees — Extracts from his 
speech in the House — Opposes restriction on Commerce — 
Judge Stuart's account of his eloquence — Re-elected Governor 
in 17&4 and 17S5. "" 

CHAPTER XIII. 

Articles of Confederation found very defective — Causes which 
led to calling the Convention for framing a new form of govern 
ment — Mr. Henry elected a member but does not attend — Op 
poises the Constitution in the Virginia Convention — Prospects 
of its success — Incidents of the Debate — Constitution ratified 
— Mr. Henry's disposition towards it. 

CHAPTER XIV. 

Mr. Henry's course in relation to U. S. Senators — He pursues the 
subject of amending the Constitution — Debate in the House — 
Anecdote on the subject of " bowing to the majesty of the 
people." 



10 CONTENTS. 

CHAPTER XV. 

Mr. Henry declines a re-election to the House, but continues the 
practice of his profession — His law practice — Anecdotes oc- 
curring in his law practice — Mr. Roland — John Hook — Hol- 
land. 

CHAPTER XVI. 

Mr. Henry retires from all public employments — His domestic 
habits and pleasures — Anecdote — Washington ofiers him the 
office of Secretary of fc'tate — Letter to Mr. Lee — Washington's 
letter — Appointed Envoy to France — Is solicited by Washing- 
ton to take part in the public councils of Virginia. 

CHAPTER XVII. 

State of parties — France — Genet — Position of the government — 
Letter of Mr, Henry to his daughter — His prescience— Mr 
Henry's political views — Letter to Mr. Blair — Presents him- 
self to the polls as a candidate for the House of Delegates- 
Death. 

CHAPTER XVIII. 

Mr. Henry's character, person, manners, eloquence, &c., &c. 



PREFACE 



The contest which has been so long carried on 
between the big books and the little books, seems 
at length, to have resulted in favor of the latter 
Books are no longer made exclusively for the few 
but also for the many : and hence the press has 
lately teemed with a multitude of condensed 
treatises and biographies, which meeting with a 
rapid sale, have pushed their way among the 
masses of the people, diiFusing a vast amount of 
useful information, and at the same time, awaken- 
ing a disposition for further inquiry, the results 
of which cannot fail to be of vast importance in 
a country like ours, where the freedom of the 
government permits every man to find his own 
proper position in society. 

Indeed, this may be called not inaptly, the era 
of little books : and he who shall be able to say 
the most in the smallest compass, or, to use the 
words of Johnson, puts into his book the most 
that it will hold, though he may be neither a ge 
nius nor a philosopher, though he may attract nei- 



14 PREFACE. 

ther notice nor applause, will still be the means 
of conferring on society a substantial benefit. 

It is in pursuance qf this idea that the present 
compilation has been made. 

The author does not pretend to have sought out 
any new incidents in the life of Mr. Henry or to 
have discovered any new traits in his character. 
For the materials of his book he is indebted to the 
admirable biography of the late Mr. Wirt, to the 
letters of Washington as contained in Mr. Spark's 
great work, Tucker's life of Jefferson and several 
other volumes still more common. He has not 
aimed so much after new facts as after new limits. 
He believes that the lives of those great and pa- 
triotic men who breasted the storm of British wrath 
and were the pioneers in our great struggle for 
liberty and independence, ought to be on the 
shelf of every cottage and cabin in the land, and 
it is to aid in accomplishing so desirable an end 
that this compilation has been made. 



LIFE 

OF 

PATRICK HENRY. 

CHAPTER I. 

Mr. Henry's father and mother — His birth — His education— 
His indolent habits — Clerk in a store — In business as a mer- 
chant — Fails — Marries and settles on a farm — Another store 
— Another failure — Extreme poverty — Studies law and is 
licensed — Tends the bar of his father-in-law's tavern. 

There are few names more endeared to the 
people of the United States, than that of Patrick 
Henry. He was a prominent actor in the great 
events of the Revolution, and his exalted patri- 
otism, his subduing eloquence, and his great pub- 
lic services, while they bind his reputation to his 
countrymen " by hooks- of steel," have made him 
knov^^n and admired in every part of the civilized 
world. ^This is the more remarkable as his early 
years gave promise of no such abounding fruit, 
and were distinguished for nothing except the 
supineness and indolence, which, notwithstanding 
his efforts to shake them off, clung to him more 



16 PATRICK HENRY. 

or less, through life, and constituted the chiei 
blemish in his extraordinary character. 

His father. Col. John Henry, was a native of 
Aberdeen in Scotland, and emigrated to Vir- 
ginia in quest of fortune about the year 1730. He 
was a nephew of the Scotch historian, Dr. Wil. 
liam Robertson, and, in a few years after his ar- 
rival in Virginia, married the widow of his friend 
Col. Syme, of Hanover county, where she had been 
born and educated. Her brother, William Win- 
ston, is said to have possessed something of that 
extraordinary eloquence with which her son was 
so eminently endowed. 

Mrs. Henry was exceedingly indulgent to her 
children and a little inclined to negligence in the 
order and arrangement of her household; but she 
was possessed of a most benevolent disposition, a 
strong understanding, great probity of character, 
and was distinguished in the social circles of thai 
day for the grace and intelligence of her conver- 
sation. 

. By this excellent woman, Mr. Henry had nine 
children, Patrick being the second in order. H« 
was born on the 29th of May, 1736, at the famil) 



PATRICK HENRY. 17 

seat called Studley, Hanover county, Virginia. 
His parents though not affluent, were in easy 
circumstances, lived in a comfortable style, and 
were among the most respectable inhabitants of 
the colony. 

Patrick's early education was sadly neglected. 
What little he received, in his wayward course* 
was mostly derived from his father, under whose 
instruction he acquired a superficial knowledge of 
the Latin language and made some proficiency in 
the mathematics. He is, however, represented to 
have been an indolent, idle boy, and to have 
improved very httle the advantages thrown in his 
way. He was so fond of loitering away his time 
in the sports of the field and of angling in the 
streams for fish that every solid advantage was 
relinquished for the gratification of these unpro- 
fitable pursuits. 

~ Unrestrained by parental authority his habits of 
idleness grew with his years, until whole days 
and weeks were frequently consumed in the most 
listless and worthless manner. His young com- 
panions would often find him, reclined alone, un- 
der the shadow of some friendly tree, whose 
branches overhung the running stream, watching 
for hours the motionless cork of his fishing line, 



18 TATRICK HENRY. 

mthout a nibble or a bite; or perhaps, wandering 
without any apparent object over the fields or 
through the woods. 

Although not indifferent to the pleasures of so- 
ciety, yet he seldom joined in the active sports or 
wild mirth of his companions. When in compa- 
ny, he was generally a silent spectator, and ap- 
peared to take little interest in what was passing 
around him. It was remarked, however, that 
when the company had separated and he was 
questioned . respecting what had passed, that noth- 
ing had escaped his keen and searching observa- 
tion. 

At this stage of his life he certainly gave 
no indications of that strength and brilliancy of 
intellect which afterwards marked his career. 
He was doubtless indolent by nature, but the 
great defects of his character at this period 
may be clearly traced to the want of proper 
parental training, and careful, methodical instruc- 
tion. Suffered to pursue, unrestrained, the 
hent of his erring inclination, to neglect his 
studies and to pamper his ease-seeking dispo- 
sition, he wasted his time, neglected his oppor- 
tunities, and fell into that negligent course of 



PATRICK HENRY. 19 

education and habits, which, in defiance of his 
great abilites and subduing eloquence, often 
brought upon him obloquy and mortification, and 
caused the former part of his career to be a suc- 
cession of severe struggles with ignorance and 
want. 

The increasing care and expense of a large 
and growing family induced Mr. Henry's father 
to find situations for his sons away from the pa- 
ternal roof, and, at the age of fifteen, Patrick was 
placed with a merchant in the vicinity, where he 
remained for about a year. At the end of this 
time his father purchased a small stock of goods, 
and Patrick and his elder brother, William, were 
placed in charge of them, to try their fortune at 
business. William's habits of idleness were even 
more unfortunate than those of his brother, and 
the adventure ended, as any prudent man, know- 
ing the character of the two brothers, would have 
supposed. A s-ingle year served to put an end to 
the store, and to decide pretty thoroughly what 
was the capacity of young Henry for mercantile 
pursuits. 

C But this disastrous affair, which in so short a 
time destroyed his prospects as a trader, was not 
without its beneficial results. Finding himself 
compelle^l to remain behind the counter in de- 
spite 0^ 31II his yearnings for the sports of the field, 



20 HEROES AND STATESMEN. 

he began to cast about him for some amusement 
which should render his confinement less irksome. 
He first turned his attention to music, and became 
quite a proficient on the violin and flute. He 
next fell upon the works of some attractive and 
elegant writers in the lighter walks of literature, 
which served to quicken his taste for reading, 
and he also amused himself with the study of hu- 
man nature, as he found it developed in the vari- 
ous dispositions of his customers. Indeed, this 
was his favorite pursuit, and the only one in 
which he discovered some traces of that acuteness 
and brilliancy, which afterwards distinguished 
him at the bar of the criminal court and on the 
floor of the Senate. 

He delighted in drawing out the predominant 
trait of character — in developing the motive 
which lay at the foundation of human actions, 
and in comparing together the various shades of 
difference thus presented to his mind. I'his spe- 
cies of study, if so it may be called, gave him pe- 
culiar pleasure, and as it exercised those faculties 
which were afterw^ards to be used with such sur- 
prising skill, it served to prepare the way for 
his future elevation. But he was not only amus- 
ed — he learned to amuse others in his turn — ^be- 
came fond of the narrative — learned to tell a 



PATRICK HENRY . fit 

story with effect, and to develope and strengthen 
his vivid imagination. 

r His misfortunes, however, did not seem to teach 
him prudence, or to correct, in any considerable 
degree, his settled aversion to every kind of labo- 
rious occupation. For the next two or three 
years, he did little beside winding up the affairs 
of his disastrous experiment, unless we except 
his marriage, which w^as consummated with Miss 
Shelton, the dauo^hter of an honest farmer in the 
neighborhood, at the age of eighteen years. His 
wife brought him no substantial assistance, but 
by the joint efforts of his father and father-in- 
law, the young couple were settled on a small 
farm, where, with the assistance of one or two 
slaves, he undertook the new duty of providing 
for his household. 

"It is curious," says Mr. Wirt, "to contem- 
plate this giant genius, destined, in a few years, 
to guide the councils of a mighty nation, but un- 
conscious of the intellectual treasure which he 
possessed, encumbered, at the early age ot 
eighteen, with the cares of a family; obscure, 
urknown, and almost unpitied; digging, with 
wcc'^ied Umbs and with an aching heart, a small 
spot of barren earth, for bread ; and blessing the 
hour of night, which relieved him from toil. 
Little could the wealthy and the great of the 



Z2 HEROES AND STATESMEN. 

land, as they rolled along the highway in splen- 
dor, and beheld the young rustic at work, in the 
coarse garb of a laborer, covered with dust and 
sweating in the sun, have suspected that this was 
the man who was, not only to humble their pride, 
but to make the prince himself tremble on his 
throne, and to shake the brightest jewels from 
the British crown." 

Mr. Henry remained on his farm about two 
years, during which time he earned only a scanty 
subsistence. His want of agricultural skill, and 
especially, his settled aversion to every species. of 
systematic labor, determined him at length, to 
abandon the toils of the field and again betake 
himself to merchandise. He accordingly sold 
his little farm at a sacrifice for cash , and haz- 
arded the avails in a stock of goods. But his 
former habits still haunted him, and obstructed 
his success. The second experiment was more 
unfortunate than the first, and in about two years 
left him a bankrupt, without resources, without 
frieflds, and without any visible means of subsis- 
tence. 

In the mean time, however, he had turned his 
time to better account. He had made himself 
familiar with geography — had read the history 
and charters of the colony — had enriched his 
mind with a thorough knowledge of Greek and 



PATRICK HENRY. 23 

Roman History — had pored over the enchanting 
pages of Livy, and, in short, had acquired a higher 
relish for Uterary pursuits. It was, probably, 
this relish which finally directed his mind to the 
study of the law. 

But although these circumstances are impor- 
tant in tracing the deyelopement of Mr. Henry's 
mind, yet they were of no consequence to him in 
the all-important duty of providing for his family* 
His situation was wretched in the extreme. His 
three failures had diminished the confidence of 
his friends — his last dollar was expended — 
around him was ruin — before him was poverty, 
and in the bosom of his little family were want and 
distress. Wherever he turned his eyes, the most 
gloomy prospects opened up before him , and in- 
stead of entering on a career of glory, it seemed 
as if he was about to be consigned to the lowest 
depths of poverty, obscurity and disgrace. 

But Mr. Henry possessed a buoyant mind — an 
easy disposition — an unconquerable good nature — 
and Mr. Jefferson, who first became acquainted 
with him about this time, observes that " his 
misfortunes wxre not to be traced either in his 
countenance or conduct." He had strong confi- 
dence in that unseen arm which guides the desti- 
nies of man and, thus supported, was enabled 
t*:) bear up under the heaviest misfortunes with 



24 PATRICK HENRY. 

comparative cheerfulness. He was now pas- 
sionately fond of music and, whenever he appear- 
ed in society, exhibited a wit and pleasantry 
which constituted him the centre and charm of 
the company, though he is represented to have 
been coarse and uncouth in his appearance and 
manners. 

Having thus been foiled in all his underta- 
kings ; being destitute of the means necessary to 
the more ordinary pursuits of hfe, and probably, 
"having an idea that the law would afford him an 
easier subsistence than the modes of industry 
which he had found it necessary to abandon, he 
determined to try his fortune in this profound and 
laborious profession. Of course, success was not 
anticipated by his friends. His habits were ap- 
parently altogether unsuited to so arduous a 
calling. Several gentlemen of eminent ability 
were already practising in the courts of Hanover 
county, and the situation of his private affairs 
absolutely precluded that course of preparation 
which in others was regarded as so essentially 
necessary in order to enter on the practice of the 
law. 
f^ Under his peculiar and embarrassing circum- 
' stances, it was all important to shorten his pro- 
bationary studies. "In the spring of 1760," 
says Mr. Jefferson, " he came to WilHamsburgh 



PATRICK HENRY. 2£ 

to obtain a license as a lawyer and called on 
me at college. He told me he had been reading 
law only six weeks. Two of the examiners, 
however, Peyton and John Randolph, men ol 
great facility of temper, signed his license with 
as much reluctance as their dispositions would 
permit them to show. Mr. Wythe absolutely 
refused. Robert E. Nicholas also refused at 
first ; but on repeated importunities, and promis- 
es of future reading, he signed. These facts I 
had afterwards from the gentlemen themselves. 
The two Randolph's acknowledged that he was 
very ignorant of tlie law, but said tbsy perceiv- 
ed him to be a young man of genius, and did not 
doubt that he would soon qualify himself." 

Such was the unpromising commencement of 
that brilliant career on which Mr. Henry was now 
entering. His ignorance of his profession was 
by no means overrated by his examiners. " Of 
the science of law," says Mr. Wirt, '* he knew 
almost nothing : of the practical part, he was so 
wholly ignorant, that he was not only unable 
to draw a declaration or a plea, but incapable, 
it is said, of the most common or simple business 
of his profession, even of the mode of ordering a 
suit, giving a notice, or making a motion in 
Court." 
■With such qualifications, it is not surprising 



26 PATRICK HENKY. 

that he had to struggle on, for several years, 
unnoticed and unknown. Meantime his situa- 
tion became more and more distressing and his 
family often suffered for the common necessaries 
of life. They all took refuge, however, under 
the wing of Mrs. Henry's father who kept a 
tavern in the shire town of the county, and when 
ever Mr. Shelton was from home or engaged 
Mr. Henry answered the calls of the guests and 
made himself useful by attending at the bar, and 
performing other duties required about the 
house. 

Such was now the situation of the man whose 
glowing eloquence was about to unsettle the 
deep foundations of society — to startle into com- 
motion the sleeping elements of democratic free- 
dom — to give " the first impulse to the ball of 
the Revolution," and to shake to its centre the 
power of the British throne. 



CHAPTER II. 

History of the celebrated suit of the Clergy against the Col- 
ony of Virginia, in which Mr. Henry first distinguished 
himself — Extraordinary Success — Removes to Louisa — Is 
called before a committee of the house of Burgesses. 

The darkest time, saith the proverb, is 
just before the dawn of day. But whether 
this aphorism always holds good in nature, it 
was, at least, true in the case of Mr. Henry. 
He was now about to emerge from the dark- 
ness of that poverty, obscurity and hopelessness, 
in which his own indolence and a false estimate 
of his mental powers had plunged him, and to 
start at once into the splendor of a glorious day 
of influence and renow^n, the dawn of which was 
already at hand. 

Mr. Wirt has called attention to the fact that 
Cicero, Demosthenes and Henry, all distinguish- 
ed themselves at the age of twenty-seven^ as 
if, (to quote the words of Cicero's biographer,) 
this were the age in which these great genios 



28 PATRICK HE^fRY. 1763 

regularly bloomed to maturity. The fact is 
at least curious, and worthy to be recorded Mr. 
Henry took out his license at the age of twenty- 
four, but does not appear to have done any busi- 
ness of consequence in his profession till 
some three or four years after. At least he did 
not come before the courts in any public matter 
until his famous defeat of the clergy brought him 
into immediate notice : and as this case is inti- 
mately connected with his advancement, it de- 
serves a more particular detail. 

At this time the Church of England was the 
established Church of the colony of Virginia, and 
by an act of Assembly, passed as early as 1696, 
each minister of a parish was provided with an 
annual stipend for his support. " It must be re- 
membered that, when the country was new and 
capital scarce, tobacco was used, m many instan- 
ces, instead of money ; and taxes and other debts 
were contracted and levied in it, as if it had been 
a regular currency. Hence the stipend thus pro- 
vided was payable in tobacco and w^as fixed by 
law at sixteen thousand pounds for each parish. 
In 1748, the law making this grant was revised 
and sanctioned by the King, the price of tobac- 
co remaining for a long series of years at two 
cents a pound, or sixteen shillings and eight penc€ 
per hundred. 



Age 27. Patrick henry. 29 

It so happened, however, that in consequence 
of the short crop of 1755, tobacco suddenly rose 
in price , in consequence of which the legislature 
passed an act allowing the inhabitants of the 
colony to pay the debts, thus contracted in tobacco, 
in money, at the old price of sixteen shillings and 
eight pence. This law was limited to that year 
only, but the planters found it so much to their 
advantage, that in 1758, when there was a pros- 
pect of another short crop, they procured its re- 
enactment. The clergy whose stipends would, by 
this act, be discharged in money, and who would 
thus lose all the benefit resulting from the increase 
of price, when they found that tobacco had actu- 
ally risen from the old standard up' to ^fty shil- 
lings per hundred, began to ppen their eyes to 
the effects of the law and it was vigorously at- 
tacked from several quarters, the Rev. John Cam 
leading the onset. 

As agriculture was the chief employment of 
the people of Virginia at this time, the tobacco 
growlers were in the majority, but to make the 
contest more equal, the King came to the aid of 
the clergy, and, because the act had not been 
submitted for his sanction, he denounced it as an 
usurpation and declared it utterly null and void. 
Emboldened by this interference on the part of 
the King, the clergy, or some of them, determined 
c2 



30 PATRICK HENRY. 1763 

aot to accept the commutation money, but to in- 
sist on the payment of their stipends, according 
to the original grant, in specific tobacco. Suits 
were accordingly brought in several counties, but 
the first trial came on in the county of Hanover, 
where the whole question was to be decided. It 
was instituted by the Rev.. James Maury against 
the county collector and his sureties. 

The defendants plead the law of 1758, which 
granted the commutation ; the plaintiff demur- 
red on the ground that the law had not received 
the sanction of the King and consequently was 
not obligatory, and that it had been declared null 
I and void by royal authority. The point of law 
\ was argued in November, 1763, by Mr. Lyons, 
I on the part of the clergy, and by Mr. Lewis, on 
\ the part of the collector and his sureties, and the 
\court sustained the demurrer, that is, they decla- 
red the law not to be binding. This was the 
material part of the case, and as the jury must 
necessarily be guided by the original law, grant- 
ing the tobacco, there could be no doubt of the 
result. Hence Mr. Lewis retired from the cause, 
informing his clients that it had, in effect, been 
decided against them, and that he could be of no 
further service. But the defendants being back- 
ed by the planters, were determined to make the 
most of their case before the jury, and, as Mr 



Age 27. Patrick henry. 31 

Lewis was not disposed to injure his reputation 
in so hopeless a matter, they applied to Patrick 
Henry, who readily undertook their cause, and 
the trial was set down for the first day of the De- 
cember term following. The remainder of this 
extraordinary story w^e shall give in the words of 
Mr. Wirt. 

" Accordingly," he says " on the first day of 
the following December, he attended the court, 
and on his arrival found in the court yard such 
a concourse as would have appalled any other 
man in his situation. They w^ere not the people 
of the county merely who were there, but visi- 
ters from all the counties for a considerable dis- 
tance around. The decision upon the demurrer 
had produced a violent ferment among the peo- 
ple, and equal exultation on the part of the cler- 
gy, who attended the court in a large body, 
either to look down opposition, or to enjoy the 
final triumph of this hard fought contest, which 
they now considered as perfectly secure. Among 
many other clergymen who attended on this oc- 
casion, came the reverend Patrick Henry, who 
was plaintiff in another cause of the same nature, 
then depending in court. When Mr. Henry 
saw his uncle approach he walked up to his car- 
riage, accompanied by Col. Meredith, and ex- 
pressed his regret at seeing him there. ' Whv 



32 PATRICK HENRY. 1763 

SO V inquired the uncle. * Because sir,' said 
Mr. Henry, ' you know that I have never yet 
spoken in pubhc, and I fear that I shall be too 
much overawed by your presence to be able to 
do my duty to my clients ; besides, sir, I shall be 
obliged to say some hard things of the clergy, 
and I am very unwilling to give pain to your 
feelings.' His uncle reproved him for having 
engaged in the cause ; which Mr. Henry excused 
by saying that the clergy had not thought him 
worthy of being retained on their side, and he 
knew of no moral principle by which he was 
bound to refuse a fee from their adversaries ; be- 
sides, he confessed, that in this controversy, both 
his heart and judgment, as well as his profession- 
al duty were on the side of the people; he then 
requested that his uncle would do him the favor 
to leave the ground. ^ Why, Patrick,' said the 
old gentleman w^ith a good natured smile, ' as tc 
your saying hard things of the clergy, I advise 
you to let that alone ; take my word for it, yoi 
will do yourself more harm than you will them 
and as to my leaving the ground, I fear, my boy 
that my presence could neither do you harm noi 
good in such a cause, however, since you seem t( 
think otherwise, and desire it of me so earnestly 
you shall be gratified,' — whereupon he entered 
his carriage again and returned home. 



Age 27. Patrick henry. 33 

" Soon after the opening of the court the 
cause was called. It stood on a writ of inquiry of 
damages, no plea having been entered by the de- 
fendants since the judgment on the demurrer. 
The array before Mr. Henry's eyes was now 
most fearful. On the bench sat more than 
twenty clergymen, the most learned men in the 
colony, and the most capable, as well as the se- 
verest critics before whom it was possible for 
him to have made his debut. The court-house was 
crowded with an overwhelming multitude, and 
surrounded with an immense and anxious throng, 
who, not finding room to enter, were endeavoring 
to listen without, in the deepest attention. Bui 
there was something still more awfully discon- 
certing than all this ; for in the chair of the presi- 
ding magistrate sat no other person than his own 
father. 

Mr. Lyons opened the cause very briefly : 
in the way of argument he did nothing more than 
explain to the jury that the decision upon the' 
demurrer had put the act of 1758 entirely out of 
the way, and left the law of 1748 as the only 
standard of their damages ; he then concluded 
with a highly WTOught eulogium on the benevo- 
lence of the clergy. And now came on the first 
trial of Patrick Henry's strength. >lo one had 
ever heard him speak and curiosity was on tiptoe 



34 ' PATRICK HEN-PY. 176*^ 

He rose very awkwardly, and faltered much in 
his exordium. The people hung their heads at 
50 unpromising a commencement; the clergy 
were observed to exchange sly looks with each 
other ; and his father is described as having almost 
sunk with confusion from his seat. But these 
feelings were of short duration, and soon gave 
place to others of a very different character. 
For now were those wonderful faculties which he 
possessed, for the first time developed ; and now 
was first witnessed that mysterious and almost 
supernatural transformation of appearance which 
the fire of his own eloquence never failed to 
work in him. For, as his mind rolled along, and 
began to glow from its own action, all the 
exuvice of the clown seemed to shed themselves 
spontaneously. His attitude, by degrees, became 
erect and lofty. The spirit of his genius awa- 
kened all his features. His countenance shone 
with a nobleness and grandeur which it had ne- 
ver before exhibited. There w^as a lightning in 
his eyes which seemed to rive the spectator. 
His action became graceful, bold and command- 
ing ; and in the tones of his voice, but more es- 
pecially in his emphasis, there was a peculiar 
charm, a magic, of which any one who ever 
heard him, will speak as soon as he is named,, but 
of which no one can give any adequate descrip- 



^j Age 27. Patrick henry. 35 

tion. They can only say that it struck upon the 
ear and upoii the heart, in a manner which lan- 
guage cannot tell. Add to all these, his wonder- 
working fancy, and the peculiar phraseology in 
Avhich he clothed its images ; for he painted to 
the heart with a force that almost petrified it. 
In the language of those who heard him on this 
occasion, ' he made their blood run cold, and 
their hair to rise on end.' 

" It will not be difficult for any one who ever 
heard this most extraordinary man, to believe the 
whole account of this transaction which is given 
by his surviving hearers; and from their account, 
the court house of Hanover county must have ex- 
hibited on this occasion, a scene as picturesque 
as has been ever witnessed in real life. They 
say that the people whose countenances had 
fallen as he arose, had heard but a very few 
sentences before they began to look up ; 
then to look at each other with surprise, as if 
doubting the evidence of their own senses ; then, 
attracted by some strong gesture; struck by 
some majestic attitude ; fascinated by the spell of 
his eye, the charm of his emphasis, and the vari- 
ed and commanding expression of his counte- 
nance, they could look away jio more. In less 
than twenty minutes they might be seen in every 
part of the house, on every bench, in every win- 



36- PATRICK HENRY. 1763 

dow, stooping forward from their stands in 
deathlike silence; their features fixed in amaze- 
ment and awe; all their senses listening and 
rivetted upon the speaker, as if to catch the last 
strain of some heavenly visitant. The mockery 
of the clergy was turned into alarm ; their tri- 
umph into confusion and despair; and at one 
burst of his rapid and overwhelming invective 
they fled from the bench in precipitation and 
terror. As for the father, such was his surprise, 
such his amazement, such his rapture, that, for- 
getting where he was, and the character which 
he was filling, tears of extacy streamed down his 
cheeks, without the power or inclination to re- 
press them. 

" The jury seem to have been so completely 
bewildered that they lost sight, not only of the 
act of 1748, but that of 1758 also ; for, thought- 
less even of the admitted right of the plaintiff, 
they had scarcely left the bar when they returned 
with a verdict of one penny damages. A motion 
was made for a new trial ; but the court, too, 
had now lost the equipoise of their judgment, and 
overruled the motion by an unanimous vote. 
The verdict and judgment overruling the motion, 
were followed by redoubled acclamations from 
within and without the house. The people, who 
had with diflficulty kept their hands off their 



.Age 27. Patrick henry. d7 

champion from the moment of closing his har- 
angue, no sooner saw the fate of the cause finally 
sealed, than they seized him at the bar, and in 
spite of his own exertions, and the continued cry of 
' order' from the sheriffs and the court, they bore 
him out of the court-house, and raising him on 
their shoulders, earned him about the yard in a 
land of electioneering triumph. 

" O ! what a scene was this for a father's 
heart! so sudden,, so unlooked for, so delight- 
fully overwhelming ! At the time, he was not 
able to give utterance to any sentiment ; but a 
few days after, w^hen speaking of it to Mr. Win- 
ston, he said with the most engaging modesty, 
and with a tremor of voice which showed how 
much more he felt than he expressed, ' Patrick 
spoke in this cause near an hour ; and in a man- 
ner that surprised me ; and showed himself well 
informxcd on a subject of which I did not think he 
had any knowledge.' 
/- "I have tried much to procure a sketch of this 
celebrated speech. But those of Mr. Henry's 
hearers who survive seem to have been bereft of 
their senses. They can only tell you that they 
were taken captive, and so delighted with their 
captivity that they followed implicitly witherso- 
ever he led them : that at his bidding their tears 
flowed from pitv and their cheeks flushed with 



S8 PATRICK HENRY. 1763 

ndignation : that when it was over, they felt as 
f just awakened from some exstatic dream, of 
which they were miable to recall or connect the 
particulars. It was such a speech as they believ- 
ed had never before ftillen from the lips of man ; 
and to this day, the old people of that county can- 
not conceive that a higher compliment can be 
paid to a speaker, than to say of him, in their 
own homely phrase, ' he is almost equal to Pat- 
rick when he plead against the 'parsons.'' " 

Such was the first public effort of this extra- 
ordinary man. He was immediately retained in 
all the cases within the range of his practice 
which depended on the same question. No oth- 
er case, however, was brought to trial, but in 
every county they were dismissed by the plain- 
tiffs, and no appeal was ever taken in the suit of 
Mr. Maury. The clergy contented themselves 
by venting another violent pamphlet, which was 
from the pen of Mr. Cam, and which speaks 
most contemptuously of the court and Mr. Hen- 
ry, the latter being characterized as an obscure 
attorney, an epithet which, till that time, might 
have been used with justice, but which was to be 
true no longer. His bow of promise had now 
appeared among the clouds of adversity which 
had hitherto darkened his way, and the pledge 
which it gave w^as fully redeemed '" the brillian- 
cy and glory of his future career. 



Age 27. Patrick henrv ^Q 

This brilliant exhibition of Mr. Henry's ge- 
nius, at once placed him at the head of his 
profession in that part of the colony where he ^ . 
resided, and made him the theme of every tongue. ^ 
He had exhibited powers of the highest order — 
startling eloquence — boldness and originality ol 
thought — beauty of imagery, and a force which 
bore down before it all opposition. It was noth- 
ing to his auditors that all this was his own- 
that the lightning with which he had cleft his 
adversaries was from his own quiver, and not 
borrowed from the schools — that the missiles 
which he hurled with such tremendous force, 
were just from the forge, undipped, unpolished, 
and as rude as his own plebeian manners — that 
his pronunciation was vitiated — his person rus- 
tic — his knowledge of books limited. He had 
shown that he was above all rules, and in spite 
of the arts of criticism, bore away the admiration, 
softened the heart, and captivated the judgment. 
Nay, we may safely affirm that it was rather be- 
cause he was the " orator of iiature^^ — because 
he had struck out into a new orbit — because his 
illustrations were coarse, nervous, and drawn 
from the familiar scenes of every day life, that 
he made so deep and lasting an impression on 
the minds of the people, and became their idol, 
their champion, their acknowledged leader. 



40 PATRICK HENRY. 1764 

From this day forth, Mr. Henry was to occupy 
a new place in the eyes of the world, and the 
genius w^hich he had so unexpectedly discovered 
was to find a field, ample for its utmost scope. 
He was not, however, so dazzled with his suc- 
cess as to be drawn aside from the simplicity of 
his former life or weaned from the propensities 
of his early years. Not long after the display 
made in " the parson^s cause," he removed into 
the county of Louisa, in the hope of improving 
his practice, where we hear of him indulging his 
ardent love of field sports — hunting deer for days 
together — encamping at night in the w^oods, and 
carrying, on his person^ the food necessary for his 
subsistence. 

He continued to be averse to severe study, and 
often prepared himself for his efforts at the bar 
while traversing the woods in pursuit of game. 
Nay, it was not uncommon for him to appear be- 
fore the court, just from the chase, in his coarse 
hunting coat, leather breeches, leggins, &c., 
bearing on his arm the saddle bags which had 
contained the stores of his journey, and, thus 
accoutrled enter on the trial of the most impor- 
tant causes, astonishing both court and jury by 
the powerful effusions of his eloquence and the 
ingenuity and strength of his mind, which, in 
defiance of his unpromising appearance, he 



§ Age 28. Patrick henry. 41 

' ' brought to bear on any subject which might un- 
expectedly come up in the course of the investi- 
gation. 

/ There was a charm about his voice, his man- 
/ ner, his mind, his every thing, which seems to 
have been almost irresistable. The late Judge 
Lyons, who was at the bar when Mr. Henry 
commenced practice, mentioned as an evidence 
of this, " that he [Lyons] could write a letter, or 
draw a declaration or plea, at the bar, with as 
much accuracy as he could in his office, under all 
circumstances, except when Patrick rose to speak ; 
but that whenever he rose, although it might be 
on so trifling a subject as a summons and peti- 
tion for twenty shilhngs, he was obliged to lay 
down his pen, and could not write another word 
. until the speech was finished/^ 

In the fall of 1764, abouta year after the trial 
of " the parsons^ cause, ^^ Mr. Henry was called 
to exhibit himself on a new arena. The case 
was a contested election in the house of burges- 
ses, Mr. James Littlepage having been returned 
for the county of Hanover, and Mr. Nathaniel 
West Dandridge, the rival candidate, claiming 
that the seat had been carried by fraud and cor- 
ruption. The parties were heard by their coun- 
sel before the committee of privileges and elec- 
tions and Mr. Henry having been employed by 
d2 



42 PATRICK HENRY 1764 

Mr. Dandridge, was thus brought for the first 
time in a pubhc capacity, to the seat of govern- 
ment, to stand before the first scholars, the most 
finished gentlemen, and the highest dignitaries in 
the new world. 

Williamsburgh w^as at this time the seat of 
gaiety and fashion ; and, during the sessions of 
the colonial legislature, was peculiarly brilliant 
The Governor lived in a style of elegance bor- 
rowed from that of royalty, attracting around 
him a circle of the most d'stinguished persons in 
the colony, which, in conjunction with the im- 
portance attending the legislative session, filled 
the place with a degree of emulation, taste and 
elegance, which constituted it the court of Ame- 
rica. 

In the midst of this scene of gaietv and splen- 
dor, the plain, rustic, uneducated Henry was in- 
troduced, without having made the least effort to 
bring his own person in correspondence with the 
courtly elegance with which he was to mingle. 
His dress was coarse, old-fashioned and thread 
bare — his manners, not merely unpolished, but 
positively awkward ; and his w^hole appearance 
presented so marked a contrast with every thing 
around him as to draw upon him every eye and 
provoke the jests and sneers of the mischievous 
and senseless. 



Ase28. PATRICK HENRY. 43 

At the time appointed for appearing before the 
committee, he was ushered with great state and 
ceremony into the room, where, however, even 
his honorable position as counsel scarcely shield- 
ed him from marked disrespect ; so very unprom- 
ising were his manners and garb. But when^he 
arose to speak, every feeling of contempt was 
changed into admiration, if not to envy. He 
distinguished himself, according to Judge Tyler, 
" by a copious and brilliant display on the great 
subject of the rights of suffrage, superior to any 
thing which had been heard before within those 
walls. Such a burst of eloquence from a man so 
very plain and ordinary in his appearance, struck 
the committee with amazement." He was heard 
with breathless attention, and, by the unanimous 
judgment of his auditors, took his stand among 
fhe best speakers of the age. 



CHAPTER III. 

State of tlie Colonies — History of the Stamp Act — Mr. Henry 
elected to the House of Burgesses — Dignity of the House — 
Society m Virginia — Mr. Henry's First Speech. 

The times were now pregnant with that mo- 
mentous struggle which was to end in striking 
the fetters from the young Hercules of the West, 
and in founding, amid the deep forests of the 
New World, a great and prosperous nation, 
whose sovereignty remains in the body of the 
people, and whose government is based on the 
political equality of man. The year 1764, in 
which Mr. Henry appeared before the committee 
of " privileges and elections," is memorable as 
that in which the great question of taxation had 
its origin : and, as this w^as the theme which was 
so soon to occupy every mind, and especially as 
it was to be the field of Mr. Henry's command- 
ing eloquence, which, like the mountain torrent, 
swept down all opposition and bore forward the 
the mind into the great strife for freedom it may 



Age 28. Patrick henry. 45 

be well to recur to some of the leading incidents 
in this interesting portion of our history. 

George III. who now held the reins of the 
British empire, and who had but lately ascended 
the throne, w^as the most powerful of all the 
monarchs of Europe. The success of the British 
arms in the late w^ar had added new laurels to 
his crown, and, notwithstanding the bungling 
treaty of 1763, had considerably enlarged his 
possessions, giving him Canada, St. Johns, Cape 
Breton, a part of Louisiana, and other pos- 
sessions in the New World ; so that, undisputed 
on the ocean, and with one hand on the dis- 
tant Indies and the other on the prosperous colo- 
nies of America, he swayed his sceptre over no 
common empire. 

But Avith his clustering honors and accumula- 
ted strength came also an enormous burden of 
debt and taxation, and, what was perhaps still 
worse, arrogance and evil councils. Hitherto 
the pohcy of Great Britain towards her subjects 
in America had been marked with a spirit which, 
with few exceptions, must be regarded as singu- 
larly liberal. They had left the shores of their 
native country, had forsaken all the associa- 
tions of their youth, had snapped assunder the 
strong attachments which must always bind the 
heart to the roeks and hills of its early years, in 



46 PATRICK HKNRY. 1764 

order to obtain that freedom which was denied 
them at home, and they had grown up to tlieir 
majority in the atmosphere of this enlarged lib- 
erty before they were of sufficient consequence 
to command much attention from their distant 
sovereign; and when, at length, it was discover- 
ed that the colonies of America were advancing 
rapidly to wealth and importance, and w^ere soon 
to constitute the brightest jewel in the British 
crown, their freedom had obtained so firm a basis 
as not to be easily shaken. 

It is true, that attempts were not wanting to 
enlarge the prerogative of the crown, and to 
force upon the colonies obnoxious measures; 
yet, in the main, they enjoyed an exemption 
from oppression which contrasted most favorably 
with the dependencies of every other government. 
It was, indeed, the great freedom of their condi- 
tion, secured by British charters and sealed by 
British seals, which, when denied or set at 
naught, or trampled upon by any new authority, 
aroused the jealous and stubborn spirit of the 
Anglo-Saxon race, and vented itself in petitions, 
remonstrances, and every other species of bold 
and manly opposition. The truth is that they 
had enjoyed so large a liberty ; had tasted so 
deeply of its blessings, and basked so long in its 
warming and fertilizing beams, tliat they became 



Age 28. Patrick henry. 47 

restive under restraints which had long been im- 
posed on their fellow-subjects at home. 

Under this degree of liberty, they had started 
into a life and activity hitherto unknown ; and 
were driving forward in a career of prosperity 
which attracted towards them the admiring eyes 
of the world. A thriving and lucrative com- 
merce had grown up with the Spanish colonies 
on the one hand and the West Indies on the other, 
which poured into their laps the exhaustless 
.treasures of those prolific countries; furnished 
them with an abundance of the precious metals, 
and enabled them to procure large quantities of 
British manufactures both for home consumption 
and for exportation. 

This brisk and profitable traffic gave a new 
impulse to the productions of the parent country ; 
reacting favorably on all the pursuits of industry, 
and stimulating to the highestBjB^ts commer- 
cial enterprize. " It would blRifficult," says 
Botta, in his history of the American war, " to 
estimate the immense number of vessels which 
brought the productions of all parts of the globe . 
into the ports of Great Britain, to be exchanged 
for the pioduce and manufactures of that country, 
esteemed above all others in foreign markets." 
Such was the result of unfettered enterprise and 
;ust and wholesome laws. 



48 PATRICK HENRY. 1764 

Up to the peace of 1763, neither direct taxa- 
tion nor any embarrassing duties had been levied 
on the Americans; and, had the same wise 
pohcy still prevailed, the fame of Mr. Henry 
would probably never have passed the confines 
of the loyal colony of Virginia. The scheme ot 
taxation was, however, by no means new. It 
had been suggested to Sir Robert Walpole so 
early as 1739, but with a sagacity which would 
have done credit to a later time, he observed, 
"I will leave that operation to my successors." 
He saw at a glance that such a course would 
greatly embarrass the operations of commerce 
and react injuriously on the prosperity of Eng- 
land, a fact which seems to have lain too deep for 
the cabinet of George III. " My opinion is," 
said he, " that if, by favoring their trade with 
foreign nations they gain five hundred thousand 
pounds sterling, at the end of two years full two 
hundred and fifty thousand of it will have enter- 
ed the royal coffers, by the industry and produc- 
tions of England, who sells them an immense 
quantity of their manufactures. The more they 
extend their foreign commerce, the more will 
they consume of our merchandise. This," he 
continues, " is a mode of taxing them more con- 
formable to their constitution and to our own." 
But this problem, so apparent to the mind of Wah 
^ole^ could not be rearlied by that of Grenville 



Age 28 Patrick henry. 49 

Mr. Pitt, who had guided the councils of the 
nation with so much abiUty during the late war, 
had restored his seals to the possession of the 
king, and his place in the cabinet was supplied 
first by the Earl of Bute, and afterwards by Lord 
Grenville. And now began that course of wretch- 
ed policy v/hich finally drove the colonies into 
open resistance and rebellion. In the month of 
March 1764, a regulation was made by which high 
duties were laid on the commerce of the colonies, 
striking away at once the fundamental ground- 
A^^ork of their prosperity and producing the greatest 
calamities among their merchants. To crown the 
evil, it was ordered that the sums raised by these 
duties should be paid in coin only, and transport- 
ed across the water to the treasury of England. 
In the same month, resolutions passed the House 
of Commons, purporting " that it was proper to 
charge certain stamp duties in the colonies and 
plantations." No further action was had on the 
resolutions at this time, and the proposition seems 
to have been thrown out as a feeler, to elicit the 
temper of America on the subject of taxation. 
The effect, throughout the colonies, was electrical 
and the people were startled at once to a sense of 
the dangers with which they were threatened. 

The resolutions preparatory to levying a reve- 
=aue on the colonies, were, in Virginia, presentecJ 

E 



50 PATRICK HENRY. 17G5 

to the house of Burgesses, through then- eommit- 
tee of correspondence, by the colonial agent, and, 
after mature consideration, were referred to ? 
special committee, with instructions to prepare 
an address to the King, a memorial to the House 
of Lords and a remonstrance to the House ot 
Commons. These several papers were reported 
on the 18th of December, and adopted by the 
council. They take the ground, afterwards so 
generally adhered to, that the British Parliament 
had no right to levy taxes on a people having 
no representation in their body ; but they breathe 
a tone of despondency and submission which 
seemed to say that they would, nevertheless, 
submit their necks to the yoke if the burden 
should be imposed. 

But neither the supplications of Virginia nor 
the complaints sent up from every corner of Brit- 
ish America, had power to swerve the evil coun- 
cils of his Majesty from their settled purpose. 
The stamf act was passed in January, 1765, and 
was to take effect in the colonies on the first oi 
November following. It consists of fifty-five 
sections, detailing with great minuteness every 
species of business paper^ such as notes, certifi- 
cates, deeds, law papers of all kinds, mercantile 
paper, leases, &c. &c., which, in order to be validj 
were required to be written on stamped paper, fur* 



Age 28. Patrick henry. 51 

liished by the government at exorbitant prices, 
varying from three 'pence to six pounds, accord- 
ing to the importance of the paper. 

The news of the passage of this act was every 
where received with dismay. The subjects of 
Great Britain in America had never beUeved it 
possible that a step so unjust in itself and so hu- 
miliating in its effects, could be adopted by par- 
liament, and they were brought at once to a deep 
and solemn pause. Great Britain was now at 
the height of her power and glory ; the colonies 
were young, weak and dependent. Resistance 
did not, therefore, enter the thoughts of even the 
stoutest heart ; or, if it did, it was buried there 
in silence. The leaders — the people — the press 
w^ere alike confounded. The whole mass of the 
people revolted at injustice so manifest, but they 
paused on the threshold of the alternative, and 
as they looked around for a remedy, seemed not 
to know what to hope, or what to fear, or how 
to evade the danger which they plainly saw in 
the concession of a principle so vital to liberty, 
so essential to happiness. 

The public mind was now just in that state of 
hesitation and doubt which fitted it to be aroused 
and directed by any bold champion who possessed 
the qualities to command public confidence. The 
feeling of indignation was deep; the wrong in- 



52 PATRICK HENRY. 1765 

flicted was palpable ; the principle at slake was 
of momentous importance; the remedy against 
t was no where to be found. It was just at this 
moment of general suspense, doubt, uncertainty 
and hesitation that Patrick Henry stood forth, 
like a giant, conscious of his strength, to give 
direction to the public mind, to unite ail hearts 
and hands to a single purpose, and give the first 
impulse to the " ball of the Revolution." 

Although it was now but a year and a half 
since his lirst public appearance in the " par- 
sons' cause," yet such was the estimation in 
which he was held by the people, and the confi- 
dence which he had inspired, that as soon as the 
passage of the stamp act was fully known, he 
was designated, by common consent, to represent 
the county of Louisa in the house of burgesses. 
To accomplish this, Mr. William Johnson who 
held the seat from that county, accepted the 
commission of coroner and resigned. Mr. Henry 
received his WTit of election on the fiist of May 
and took his seat soon after. 

The Virginia house of burgesses was, at this 
time, one of the most dignified and able assem- 
blies in the world. John Robinson, the Speaker, 
was esteemed one of the most opulent men 
in the colony, was colonial treasurer, a man of 
.earning and talents and had occupied his high 



^GE28. PATRICK HENRY. 53 

;tation for twenty-five years. Peyton Randolph 
he King's attorney-general, held the rank nex^ 
o the Speaker, and wjis an eminent lawyer and 
L well-informed, practical statesman. Richard 
31an:l, to a finished education and an untiring 
ndustry, joined the manners of a gentleman, the 
aiowled2:e of a statesman and was reo'arded as 

O O 

he fi!'st writer in the colony. Edmund Pendle- 
on, though possessing originally a defective ed- 
ication, had arisen by diligence to be the first 
awyer and statesman and the best parliamentary 
nanager of his time. Richard Henry Lee was 
egarded as the most finished orator in the colo- 
lies and was the most elegant scholar in the 
iouse. But beside these, who were the stars 
ihining in all their brilliancy, there were such 
nen as Wythe, and Washington, and a host ol 
)thers scarcely inferior to them in ability or dig- 
lity. 

The colony also, presented the American coun- 
;erpart of English society. Certain families who 
bad acquired large tracts of land at the first set- 
lement of the country and preserved it by 
he law of entails, had arisen to a degree of 
ivealth and lived in a style of opulence and 
jplendor of which the present generation can 
brm little adequate idea. They entertained all 
:he high aristocratic feelings of the nobility ol 



54 PATRICK HENRY. 1765 

Europe and imitated them in their modes of hv 
mg. Next to these was an order somewhat in 
ferior, consisting of the younger members of these 
famihes and others who had arisen from the low 
er orders, who possessed all their pride without 
their wealth. But the great body of the people 
consisted of smaller land-holders, constituting an 
independent yeomanry, who kept within theii 
own circle entirely, and scarcely ventured to 
jostle those above them. 

It is easy to see that such an organization of 
society, must, of necessity, carry its influence into 
the legislative assembly, antl give a peculiar dig- 
nity to all its forms. Members were respected 
according to their castes, and their influence de- 
pended mainly upon their standing. It was un- 
der such circumstances as these that Mr. Henry 
just from the midst of the yeomanry of the coun- 
try, young, inexperienced, unlettered, unacquaint- 
ed with the forms of the House, and with all the 
rustic simplicity which we have elsewhere de- 
scribed, took his' seat in this august and enlight- 
ened body. 

Although he had been elected in consequence 
of his known opposition to the stamp act, it was 
not, of course, expected that he should lead in 
any measure on this subject. On the other hand, 
it was supposed that the distinguished men who 



A.GE28 PATRICK HENRY. 55 

had addressed themselves to this business, and 
had drawn up the papers of the previous year to 
the king and parhament would again bring the 
matter before the House, and that Mr. Henry 
would sustain such a course as was indicated by 
his expressed opinions. Mr. Henrv' accordingly 
waited to assume his position under the first lead- 
er that should " raise the banner of colonial lib- 
erty," and was, in the mean time, called out on 
another subject, which is thus described by Mr. 
Jefferson : 

" The gentlemen of this country had, at that 
time, become deeply involved in that state of 
indebtment which has since ended in so general 
a crush of their fortunes. Mr. Robinson, the 
Speaker, was also the Treasurer, an officer al- 
ways chosen by the assembly. He was an ex- 
cellent man ; liberal, friendly and rich. He had 
been drawn in to lend, on his own account, great 
sums of money to persons of this description, and 
especially those of the assembly. He used freely 
for this purpose of the public money, confiding 
for its replacement in his own means and the 
securities he had taken for the loans. About 
this time, however, he became sensible that his 
deficit to the public was become so enormous 
that a discovery must soon take place, for as 
yet, the pubhc had no suspicion of it. He 



66 PATRICK HENRY. 1765 

devised, therefore, with his friends in the assem- 
bly, a plan for a public loan office, to a certhin 
amount, from which moneys might be lent on 
public account, and on good landed security, to 
individuals. 

" Between the 17th and 30th [May] the mo- 
tion for a loan office was accordingly brought 
forward in the house of burgesses and, had ii 
succeeded, the debts due to Robinson on these 
loans would have been transferred to the public^ 
and his deficit completely covered. This state ol 
things, however, w^as not yet know' n, but Mr. 
Henry attacked the scheme on other general 
grounds, in that style of bold, grand, and over- 
whelming eloquence, for w^hich he became so 
celebrated afterward. I had been intimate with 
him from the year 1759-60, and felt an interest 
in what concerned him, and I can never forget a 
particular exclamation of his in the debate, which 
electrified his hearers. 

" It had been urged that, from certain unhappy 
circumstances of the colony, men of substantia] 
prosperity had contracted debts which, if exacted 
suddenly, must ruin them and their families, but 
which, with a little indulgence of time, might be 
paid with ease. ' V^ hat, sir !' exclaimed Mr. 
Henry, in animadverting upon this, ' is it pro- 
posed then to reclaim the spendthrift from his 



Age 28. Patrick henry. 57 

dissipation and extravagance by filling his pock- 
ets with money?' These expressions are indel- 
libly impressed upon my memory. He laid 
open with so much energy the spirit of favor- 
itism on which the proposition was founded, and 
the abuses to which it would lead, that it was 
crushed in its birth. He carried with him all 
the members of the upper counties, and left a 
minority composed merely of the aristocracy 
of the country. From this time his popularity 
swelled apace ; and, Mr. Robinson dying the 
year afterward, his deficit was brought to 
light, and discovered the true object of the 
proposition.'' 

• Such was the success of Mr. Henry's' first 
effort before a House disposed to frown down 
every thin'g w^hich did not emanate from its 
distinguished leaders, only a few days after his 
election, and before he had become acquainted 
with ten of its members. 1 The truth is that there 
was an irresistable force and terseness in his 
mode of condensing a whole argument into a 
single sentence, as in the example given by Mr. 
Jefferson, which carried conviction so strongly 
to the mind as to make his positions apparently 
past controversy. He was regarded, as wxll he 
might be, with the greatest amazement ; and 
although the more aristocratic members affected 



58 PATRICK HENRY. 1765 

to ridicule his depraved pronunciation and the 
coarseness of his language, dress and manners, 
yet were they obliged to yield to the effects 
of his eloquence, and stand abashed before his 
towering genius. 



CHAPTER IV. 

Effect produced by Mr. Henry's First Speech — Introduces his 
Resolutions on the Stamp Act — Defends them with super- 
human Eloquence — Effect of their Adoption — Anecdote of 
the Debate— Indorsement found among Mr. Henry's Papers. 

After the burst of native eloquence which Mr. 
Henry had poured on the House in relation to 
the establishment of a loan office and the evident 
victory which that powerful eloquence had ob- 
tained, the former leaders were disposed to look 
with little favor, if not with decided hostility, on 
any thing which should emanate from the same 
quarter. They had, at least, no disposition to 
contribute to swell the tide of that popularity 
w^hich they saw must ultimately set in his favor, 
and hence they resolved to check the daring in- 
novator in the career w^hich he had so trium- 
phantly commenced. 

But Mr. Henry sought not popularity, and 
moved forward in the path of duty without any 
reference to the action or feelings of others. It 



60 PATRICK HENRY. 1765 

must, however, be acknowledged that these were 
no very favorable circumstances under which to 
introduce a measure bearing on the important 
subject of stamp duties. But Mr. Henry had 
waited in vain for any movement on the part of 
others. The subject w^as embarrassed by so 
many difficulties that they seemed loth to touch 
it. Having satisfied himsell that no other per- 
son would move in the matter, single-handed, 
without consultation with more than two mem- 
bers, and w^hen the session was within three 
days of its close, he tells us that he " determined 
to venture." 

His determination seems to have been suddenly 
taken, and his preparation for the great conflict 
in which he was about to engage, very careless. 
The celebrated resolutions which were to consti- 
tute the first act of resistance to the new and 
oppressive measures of Great Britain were drawn 
up on the blank leaf of an old volume of " Coke 
upon Littleton," and were introduced into the 
Hoi^se on the 30th of May, about three weeks 
after Mr. Henry took his seat. The^r.9^ affirm- 
ed that the original settlers of the colonies 
•■'* brought with them and transmitted to their 
posterity" all " the privileges, franchises aud 
immunities" enjoyed by the people of Great 
Britain. The second declared that these '' privi- 



Age 29. Patrick henrv. 81 

leges^ liberties and immunities" have been secii« 
red to the aforesaid colonists "by two royal 
charters granted by king James." The thira 
sets- forth that " the taxation of the people by 
themselves or by persons chosen by themselves" 
was '^ the distinguishing characteristic of British 
freedom and without which the ancient constitu- 
tion cannot subsist." The fourth maintained 
that the people of Virginia had always " enjoyed 
the right of being governetl by their own assem- 
bly in the article of taxes," and that this right 
had " been constantly recognized by the king 
and people of Great Britain." The fifth resolu- 
tion was deemed most objectionable of all, and 
summed up the whole matter in the following 
words : 

" Resolved, therefore, That the general as- 
sembly of this colony have the sole right anc 
powxr to levy taxes and impositions upon the 
inhabitants of this colony, and that every attempt 
to vest such power in any other person or per- 
sons whatsoever, .other than the general assembly 
aforesaid, has a manifest tendency to destroy 
British as well as American freedom." 

It will be seen that this last resolution " took 
the hill hy the horns, ^^ and looked with a bola 
scrutiny into the nature of the right now for the 
first time claimed by Great Britain. It declarec 

F 



62 PATRICK HENRY. 1765 

that every attempt to vest the power of taxation 
any where else than in the colonial assembly, had 
a manifest tendency to destroy the freedom of 
the subject, and consequently that the act impo- 
sing stamp duties was a tyranical measure, in- 
tended to abridge the liberties of the people. 
This was daring language for a dependent colony 
to use towards a state as powerful as that of 
Great Britain, and it is not therefore surprising 
that it startled even those who were the warmest 
friends of colonial rights. 

The effect which the introduction of these res- 
olutions produced was tremendous. The debate 
which ensued was long and stormy, and called 
out all the power of the House. The efforts of 
Mr. Henry were almost superhuman. He had 
never before grappled with a subject which 
touched all the deep and ardent feelings of his 
patriotic soul ;' which fully matched his towering 
genius, and drew out all the powers and resources 
of his wonderful mind. His mighty efforts filled 
the measure of his glory and raised him at once 
to that commanding eminence which made him 
the " observed of all observers." 

The resolutions had been shown to only two 
persons, one of whom, Mr. Johnston, seconded 
Ihem, and supported them by an able argument. 
They were opposed not only by the aristocratic 



Age 29. Patrick henry. 63 

members but by many others who regarded their 
bold positions as dangerous to the colonial cause, 
and who afterwards distinguished themselves 
among the cham_pions of American liberty. All 
the old, influential leaders of the House took de- 
cided ground against them, and Messrs. Randolph, 
Pendleton, Bland, Wythe, &c. brought forth all 
their strength to crush them. " But," says Mr 
Jefferson, " the torrents of sublime eloquence from 
Henry, backed by the solid reasoning of John- 
ston, prevailed. The last, however, and strong- 
est resolution, was carried but by a single vote. 
The debate on it was most bloody. I was then," 
continues he, " but a student, and stood at the 
door of communication between the House and 
the lobby during the whole debate and vote, and 
I well remember that, after the members on the 
division w^ere declared and told from the chair, 
Peyton Randolph, the attorney-general, came out 
at the door where I was standing, and said, as 

he entered the lobby — ' By , I would have 

given five hundred guineas for a single vote.' " 
. After this astonishing display of Mr. Hem-y's 
powers and the splendid triumph which they had 
achieved, he immediately left town. When the 
ardor of the conflict had cooled and some of the 
more timid members who had been carried along 
by the tide of his eloquence began to reflect orj 



64 PATRICK HENRY. 1765 

the consequences of this bold measure, they be- 
came alarmed and, on the following morning, a 
motion was made and carried to expunge the last 
resolution from the journals. The effect, how- 
ever, could not be thus obliterated. " The 
alarm," to use Mr. Henry's own words, " spread 
through America with astonishing quickness." 
The impulse ecu municaltd to the public mind 
by the lesolutions and eloquence of Mr. Henry- 
w^as caught by the other colonies — similar resolu- 
tions were every where adopted — the spirit ol 
resistance beccme bolder and bolder — the whole 
country was at once aroused — and when, accor- 
ding to its provisions, the stamp act was to take 
eflect, such was the detei mined opposition of the 
people that its execution Avas impossible. 

We can scarcely imiOgine any effort of mind 
more astonishing than that which Mr. Henry 
made on this occasion. According to the best 
accounts which we can gather, it would have 
added laurels to the brow of the most accom- 
plished statesman of that or any other time. 
This of itself is sufficiently remarkable. But 
when we reflect that it was only eighteen months 
vince he made his first public speech — when we 
call to mind the unfortunate habits of his youth, 
his limited acquirements, his utter want of expe- 
rience — above all, when we consider that he had 



Age 29. Patrick henry. 65 

been but a few days in the House, was unac- 
quainted with its forms arid with its members and 
had to contend with exp^erienced and able states- 
men whose whole hves had been spent in the 
pubhc service and who were versed in all the 
skill of parliamentary management, while he was 
a raw rustic, with nothing to aid him but the 
vigor of his own unequalled genius, we are lost 
in admiration of that mind which, thus depend- 
ent on itself alone, could dash fearlessly into the 
midst of a troop of veteran statesmen, and with 
his sino;le arm scatter their trained leg^ions to 
the winds. 

" It was remarked of him," says Mr. Wirt, 
" throughout his life, that his talents never failed 
to rise with the occasion and in proportion with 
the resistance which he had to encounter. The 
nicety of the vote on the last resolution proves 
that this was not a time to hold in reserve any 
part of his forces. It was, indeed, an Alpine 
passage, under ciiicumstances even more un pro- 
pitious than those of Hannibal, for he had not 
only to fight, hand to hand, the powerful party 
already in possession of the heights, but, at the 
same instant, to cheer and animate the timid band 
that were trembling and fainting and drawing 
back below him. 

" It was an occasion that called upon him to 
f2 



66 PATRICK HENRY. 1765 

put forth all his strength, and he did put it forth 
in such a manner as man never did before. The 
cords of argument with which his adversaries 
frequently flattered themselves that they had 
bound him fast, became pack-threads in his 
hands. He burst them with as much ease as the 
unshorn Samson did the bands of the Philistines. 
He seized the pillars of the temple, shook them 
terribly, and seemed to threaten his opponents 
with ruin. It was an incessant storm of liolitnino; 
and thunder- which struck them aghast. The 
faint-hearted gathered courage from his counten- 
ance, and cowards became heroes w^hile gazing 
upon his exploits." 

Such is the glowing manner in which Mr. 
Wirt pictures this remarkable contest — remarka- 
ble in its origin, remarkable in its conduct, but 
still more remarkable in its consequences. There 
was now no longer any doubt that Mr. Henry 
was the first orator and statesman in Virginia. 
He had, as if by common consent, put himself at 
the head of a party in the House and had taken 
the lead out of the hands of those who had hith- 
erto guided its proceedings. It is true that his 
claims to the high distinction which he had won 
were not undisputed. There were those in the 
ranks which he had scattered, who undertook to 
brand him as a declaimer and a demago^^ue, 



Age 29. Patrick henry. 67 

but his subsequent triumphant and brilliant ca- 
reer has sufficiently vindicated his reputation 
from this foul slander. His genius, like that of 
Napoleon, was moulded for a new and untried 
path, and hence, on the pinnacle of doubts and 
dangers, where others became giddy, he walked 
with a firm and fearless step. 

An example of that peculiar boldness and en- 
ergy which characterized Mr. Henry in his loftier 
flights of oratory is given by Mr. Wirt, without 
which, any life of this extraordinary man would 
be imperfect. " It was," he says, " in the midst 
of this magnificent debate, while he was descan- 
ting on the tyranny of the obnoxious act, that he* 
exclaimed in a voice of thunder and with the 
look of a god : ' Caesar had his Brutus — Charles 
the First his Cromwell — and George the Third 
— [Treason ! cried the Speaker — treason, trea- 
son, echoed from every part of the House. It 
was one of those trying moments which is deci- 
sive of character. Henry faltered not for an in- 
stant ; but rising to a loftier attitude, and fixing 
on the Speaker an eye of the most determined 
fire, he finished his sentence with the firmest em- 
phasis] — and George the Third — may -profit hy 
%eir example. If this be treason, make the most 
)f it.' " 
The genius which could sieze at such a mo- 



68 PATRICK HENRY. 1765 

ment an advantage so commanding must, indeed, 
have been of no ordinary mould ; and when we 
contemplate its lofty flights, we cease to wonder 
at that extraordinary progress w^hich ]\Ir. Henry 
made in the affections of the people and the sud- 
denness with which he rose to be one of the lead- 
ing stars in that brilliant constellation of orators 
and statesmen which Virginia furnished to the 
councils of that nation which was now about to 
burst into independent existence. • " His light 
and heat were seen and felt throughout the con- 
tinent, and he was every where regarded as the 
great champion of colonial hberty." 

As the passage of these resolutions formed, 
not only an important era in the public life of 
Mr. Henry but also in the history of our country, 
we shall conclude this chapter with the brief ac- 
count given by Mr. Henry himself, indorsed on 
the back of the resolutions in his own hand wri- 
ting, and found among his papers after his death. 
He says : — " The w^ithin resolutions passed the 
house of burgesses in May, 1765. They formed 
the first opposition to the stamp act, and the 
scheme of taxing America by the British parlia- 
ment. All the colonies, either through fear or 
want of opportunities to form an opposition, or 
from influence of some kind or other, had re- 
mained silent. I had been for the fust time 



Age 29. Patrick henry. 69 

eiectai a burgess a few days before, was young, 
inexperienced, and unacquainted with the forms 
of the Horse and the members that composed it. 
Finding the men of weight averse to opposition, 
and the commencement of the tax at hand, and 
that no person was hkely to step forth, I deter- 
mined to venture, and alone, unadvised and un- 
assisted, on a blank leaf of an old law book, 
wrote the within. Upon offering them to the 
House, violent debates ensued. Many threats 
were uttered and much abuse cast on me by the 
party for submission. After a long and warm 
contest, the resolutions passed by a very small 
majority, perhaps of one or two only. The 
alarm spread throughout America w^ith aston- 
ishing quickness, and the ministerial party w^ere 
overwhelmed. The great point of resistance to 
British taxation was universally established in 
the colonies. This brought on the war, which 
finally separated the two countries and gave 
independence to ours. Whether this will prove 
a blessing or a curse, will depend upon the use 
our people make of the blessings which a 
gracious God hath bestowed on us. If they 
are wise, they will be great and happy. If 
they are of a contrary character they will be 
miserable. — Righteousness alone can exalt them 
as a nation. 



70 



PATRICK HENRY. 



1765 



"Reader! whoever thou art, remember this, 
and.in thy 'sphere practise virtue thyselt and cu- 
courage it in others. 



P. ilKXl 



CHAPTER V. 

Effects which followed the passage of the Stamp Act — Its re- 
peal — Mr. Henry in the House — His Law Practice — Mr. 
Pitt — New Grievances of the Americans— Their Effect — 
House of Burgesses — Anecdote of Mr. Henry. 

The spark of opposition to the Stamp Act 
which had thus been kindled in Virginia by the 
resohitions and eloquence of Mr. Henry soon 
spread itself into a mighty flame, gathering 
strength as it progressed, and finding a ready 
response in the bosoms of art injured people. As 
some obscure stream shut in among the moun- 
tains gathers its waters in sullen silence till, 
bursting from their confinement, they sweep for- 
ward with overwhelming majesty and strength ; 
so had the feelings of the people been silently 
deepening and strengthening and when loosed at 
length from their oppressive restraint, they broke 
out in bold expressions and strong and manly 
measures wliich made the instigators of the ob 



'^2 PATRICK HENR . l/bb 

noxious law recoil before the tide of popular 
wrath. 

In New England, especially, was this out- 
break of popular indignation most fearfully 
strong. The act was openly denounced in the 
public journals — was attacked in pamphlets and 
public assemblies, and was made the subject of 
associations who organized themselves to pre- 
vent its execution. Indeed, so far was this op- 
position carried, that the stamp ofFcers were 
every where obliged to resign, and in some in- 
stances the houses of obnoxious individuals were 
beset by a disciplined mob, who destroyed the 
furniture, broke out the walls and burnt the own- 
ers in effigy. With such an organized and da- 
ring opposition the royal agents found it impos- 
sible to contend, and a change of ministry having 
been effected, the repeal of the stamp act was 
one of its first measures. 

At the news of this triumph, the joy of the 
colonists was unbounded, and broke out in deep 
and honest expressions of affection for the sove- 
reign whom they had been accustomed to honor 
and obey. The house of burgesses of Virginia, 
at the opening of the ensuing session, in a par- 
oxysm of feeling voted him a statute, and an 
obelisk to those British patriots by whose exer- 
tions the repeal had been effected. Subsequent- 



Aci£:30. PATRI0K HENRY. 73 

ly, however, the bill was postponed to tne first 
day of the succeeding session, when the course 
of events had been such as to destroy the enthu- 
siasm of the House, and we hear of it no more. 

Daring the session no great question of na- 
tional importance, such as was calculated to call 
out the distinguishing excellencies of Mr. Hen- 
ry's pov/ers, presented itself. We find him, 
however, appearing on every question which 
bore on the purity of government and taking an 
active part in bringing about a reform of certain 
abuses which had crept into the usages of the 
House. He w^as particularly conspicuous in 
supporting a motion for separating the office of 
treasurer from that of speaker. 

Both these offices had been held by Mr. Rob- 
inson who was now known to be a defaulter to 
a large amount, and the time for action was 
therefore favorable. The Speaker, although 
elected by the House, could not act without the 
approval of the Governor. He was therefore in 
some measure dependent on the royal favor for 
his office and, as the treasurer had it in his pow- 
er to use the public money, as Mr. Robinson 
had done, in loans to the members of the House, 
he possessed a patronage which Mr. Henry was 
very desirous should be removed as far as possible 
fi'om the influence of tiie*' crown. 



74 PATKICK HENRY. 1766 

These were not days favorable to innovation. 
Those who have grown gray in the observance 
of existing usages are seldom disposed to change, 
and this usage, although evidently founded in 
error, had been consecrated by time. The effort 
was, therefore, attended with much more difficul- 
ty than would at first be supposed, and required 
all the skill, steadiness and boldness of Mr. Hen- 
ry to give it success. When the two offices were 
finally separated, Peyton Randolph, the attorney 
general, was elected to the chair ; and Robert C. 
Nicholas, an estimable n\an and an eminent 
lawyer to the office of treasurer. The accounts 
of the late treasurer were now examined by 
a committee appointed for the purpose, and Mr. 
Robinson's defalcation was found to have reach- 
ed the enormous sum of a hundi-ed thousand 
pounds. 

Meantime Mr. Heme's practice at the bar con- 
tinued to increase, and he came into competition 
w^th the most eminent men in the colony. As 
a lawyer, however, he always wanted that learn- 
ing which no genius can entirely supply, and 
which can be acquired only by a patient course 
of persevering industry. On questions involving 
general principles, turning on the law of nations, 
or even on maratime law, and which allowed a 
large scope to unaided intellect he was alwavs 



Age 30. Patrick henry. 75 

great ; but for the dry details and peculiar tech- 
nical learning of his profession he was by no 
means fond. 

Before a jury he always excelled. Here 
his intimate acquaintance with human nature 
and especially his natural sympathy with the 
mass of the people gave him a commanding 
advantage. " The most exq-uisite performer that 
ever ' swept the sounding lyre ' had not a more 
sovereign mastery over its powers than Mr. Hen- 
ry had over the springs of feeling and thought 
that belong to a jury." He knew them man by 
man — saw the motives that were to influence 
their actions — the peculiar weakness which gave 
him access to their hearts, and he touched, with 
the skill of Orpheus, the strings whose vibrations 
were in harmony with their own emotions, and 
thus held them by a power which they neither 
had the strength nor disposition to resist. He 
iieems to have known precisely what kind of 
topics to urge on their understandings, and what 
kind of simple imagery to present to their hearts, 
wh'le his inexhaustible store of apt illustrations, 
clothed in the most striking and melodious lan- 
gua^^e an;! aidad by an action the most simple 
and which was always under the complete con- 
trol of his thoughts ; now swelling into grandeur 
anil now sinking into tenderness, made him 
almost irresistible. 



76 PATRICK HENRT. 1766 

But of all jury trials, he was more particular- 
ly at home in those of a criminal nature. At the 
time of which we write a certain day of the gen- 
eral court w^as regularly set apart for criminal 
business, and on that day Mr. Henry was always 
monarch of the bar. He seized with a master's 
hand the strong points of the case, adapted him- 
self to the character of the cause, opened the 
deep springs of affection and passion, and car- 
ried his auditors along with him so perfectly that 
they were aroused to indignation or dissolved to 
tears at his pleasure. " His language of pas- 
sion," says Mr. Wirt, " was perfect. There was 
no word of ' learned length or thundering sound' 
to break the charm. It had almost the stillness 
of solitary thinking. It was a sweet revery, a 
delicious trance." 

The British ministry did not, however, suffer 
Mr. Henry to expend his strength in the circum- 
scribed circle of petty litigation. The vast po- 
litical arena upon which he had entered with 
such dazzhng brilliancy was still to be the field 
of his glory, and the great subject of human lib- 
erty to be the theme of his transcendant elo- 
quence. The joy of the Americans at the repeal 
of the stamp act was of short duration. The 
repeal was, indeed, merely a stroke of policy 
adopted by the new ministry to obtain favor with 



Age 30. Patrick henry. 77 

the Americans, while the great principle of 
binding the colonies in all cases whatsoever, was 
most offensively maintained. It was not, there- 
fore, a voluntary sacrifice to justice and truth : 
indeed, the ministry took every occasion to show 
that they did not intend to surrender the princi- 
ple of taxation, and from words soon proceeded 
to acts. 

It must not be supposed, however, that the 
rights of America found no advocates in the Brit- 
ish parliament. The great people who had driv- 
en the Stuarts from their throne and manfully 
battled for a larger freedom through a long se- 
ries of years against the pride and arrogance of 
hereditary power, must have been recreant in- 
deed had they sunk so low. The celebrated 
William Pitt, who had wielded with such mighty 
effect the power of England in the late war, was 
among those who felt, with Mr. Henry, that " the 
taxation of the people by themselves, or by per- 
sons chosen by themselves," was " the distin- 
guishing characteristic of British freedom." 
When the repeal of the stamp act was under 
discussion he boldly declared his opinion that 
" England had no right to tax the colonies." 

" Taxation," said he, " is no part of the gov- 
erning or legislative power. The taxes are a 
voluntary gift and grant of the colonies alone ; 
g2 



78 PATRICK HENRY. 1766 

when, therefore, in this house, we give and 
grant, we give and grant what is our own. But 
in an American tax w^hat do we do ? We, your 
majesty's commons of Great Britain, give and 
grant to your majesty — what ? — our own proper- 
ty ? — No. We give and grant to your majesty 
the property of your commons in America. It 
is an absurdity in terms." 

It is singular that the people of Great Britain 
should not have discovered that it was absolutely 
necessary to yield something to that united and 
determined spirit which they saw rising on every 
hand in America. Had they looked to the les- 
sons inculcated by their own history — had they 
turned, especially, to the eventful period of 
Charles the First, they w^ould have learned that 
\vhere light and liberty prevail, there is a bound 
which tyrants cannot pass. There is indeed a 
strong parallel between these two portions of 
history which should not be forgotten. In both 
instances the dispute was between the king and 
his subjects — it arose in both cases out of a dif- 
ference on the subject of government — in both, 
the contention was, on the one hand for preroga- 
tive, and on the other for liberty — in both, the 
royal party alternated betw^een marked conces- 
sions and new assumptions of power, and the 
people were now ai^peased an<l now exaspera- 



Agf30. PATRICK HENRY. 79 

ted — in both, the royal party neglected the gold- 
en moment of conciliation — in both, the claims 
of power were pressed with the madness of des- 
peration, and both resulted in the enlargement 
of liberty, in the humiliation of the sovereign 
and the triumph of the oppressed and injured 
party. 

But this instructive lesson, familiar to every 
school-boy in the kingdom, was unheeded, or at 
least produced no salutary result. The ministers 
of the crown acted under a blind infatuation 
which hurried on the drama to its great catastro- 
phe. The first obnoxious measure after the re- 
peal of the stamp act was the demand of a full 
indemnity for the violence and injury which had 
followed the attempts to collect stamp duties. 
This demand was complied with, but the individ- 
uals guilty of the exceptionable conduct were 
pardoned, which gave great offence to the royal 
party. The next step w^as that of quartering 
large bodies of troops in the principal cities, and 
demanding provision to be made for their sup- 
port. These troops were a tripple source of ir- 
ritation. They were overbearing and insolent in 
their conduct to the citizens ; they were known 
to be quartered here for the purpose of subduing 
the independent action of the people, and they 
drew their supplies from the very men whom they 
were sent to injure. 



80 PATRICK HENRY 1767 

But these steps were only preliminary to a 
more general system of oppression. An act ol 
parliament was passed to take effect on the 20th 
of November, 1767, imposing duties on glass, 
tea, paper, and other enumerated articles ; and, 
to guard against the refractory disposition mani- 
fested by the Americans and secure the uncon- 
ditional collection of the duties, commissioners 
were appointed by the crown and sent over to 
superintend the customs. These commissioners 
were armed with power to search and sieze at 
discretion, and were exempted from all prosecu- 
tion for their conduct whatsoever they might do, 
by any construction of their commission. 

Another measure equally arbitrary and offen- 
sive was the appointment of judges with exten- 
sive powers, holding their offices directly of the 
king and sustained by large salaries levied from 
the colonies. But as if this was not sufficiently 
tyrannical an order was passed directing the 
Governor of Massachusetts to make strict inquiry 
as to all treasons committed in that province 
since the 30th day of December, 1767, in order 
that the persons most active in committing them 
might be tried, not where the offence was alleged 
to have been committed, but in England, three 
thousand miles distant. 

The effect of these violent measures was just 



Age 31. Patrick henry. 81 

such as any man in his senses would have anticipa- 
ted. It was a bolder and fiercer opposition ; a 
more intimate union of the colonies, and a course 
of repeated recriminations, separating the people 
as far in feeling as they were already in position 
from their parent country. Frequent disputes 
arose between the legislatures and the governors 
of the different colonies, which ended in the dis- 
solution of these safeguards of liberty, and every 
thing tended to widen the breach which had been 
made, and to drive on the people to deeds of still 
greater desperation. To prevent any revenue 
from following the duties which had been levied, 
agreements were entered into not to import 
Ensflish oroods, and committees were established 
in the several colonies to see that these agree- 
ments werc"^' rigidly enforced. Great privations 
were necessarily endured, but every grade of so- 
ciety kindled into patriotism at these acts of op- 
pression, and the ladies, especially, not only in 
these preliminary steps, but throughout the long 
conflict which ensued, cheerfully submitted to the 
self denials imposed by public duty, and renoun- 
ced, without a sigh, luxuries and even comforts 
to which they had been long accustomed, in 
order to push on the conflict for liberty. 

Meantime Mr. Henry removed from Louisa to 
his native county, where he was, however con- 



82 PATRICK HENRY. 1768 

tinued a member of the colonial legislature, 
holding his seat and taking an active part in the 
stirring events of the times till the close of the 
Revolution. As he gained experience and ac- 
quired influence, the feelings which he had at 
first excited melted away before his onward 
march, and he had the pl^iasure of seeing most of 
the old leaders of the House go with him heart 
and hand in sustaining the rights of an injured 
and oppressed people. 

The session of 1768-9 was marked by greater 
boldness than any which had preceded it, and 
drew down upon its proceedings the wrath of 
the king's representative. A series of resolu- 
tions were drawn up asserting in the most em- 
phatic terms the exclusive right of the colony to 
levy taxes, and at the same time complaining of 
the gross violation of those rights which they 
held in common with their British brethren, and 
remonsti'ating vigorously against the arbitrary 
measure of transporting free-born subjects to take 
their trial in the courts of England. The resolu- 
tions were agreed to in committee of the whole, 
but anticipating the interference of the governor 
they were not reported to the House until the 
next morning, wher. meeting simultaneously at 
the ringing of the bell tliey opened the subject 
with closed doors and, having adopted the reso- 



Age 36. Patrick henry. 83 

lutions and ordered them to be entered on the 
journal they were, on opening the doors, sum- 
moned to attend the governor and were dissol- 
ved. " Mr. Speaker," said he, " and gentlemen 
of the house of representatives, I have heard oi 
your resolves and augur ill of their effects ; you 
have made it my duty to dissolve you and you 
are, accordingly, dissolved." 

This act of the governor, however, had no 
other effect than to produce a short interim in 
the legislative assembly. It did not serve to 
change the materials of which the House was 
composed, for every member, without an excep- 
tion, was promptly re-elected, and the same spirit 
of determination continued to actuate its counsels. 

On the 12th of March, 1773 the system of cor- 
responding committees, which proved so pow- 
erful an agent in the great work of the Revolution, 
was adopted. The resolutions proposing this 
measure were introduced by Mr. Dabney Carr, a 
new member from Louisa, and a young man of 
splendid talents and ardent patriotism. The 
following gentlemen composed the first com- 
mittee : 

Hon. Peyton Randolph, Robert C. Nicholas, 
Richard Bland, Richard H. Lee, Benjamin Har- 
rison, Edmund Peiidleton, Patrick Henry, Dud- 



84 PATRICK HENRY. 1773 

ley Digges, Dabney Carr, Archibald Gary and 
Thomas Jefferson.* 

Mr. Carr's resolutions were supported by Mr. 
Henry and Mr. Richard H. Lee, two of the most 
distinguished orators of their time, with the spi- 
rit and energy which the occasion inspired. Mr. 
Carr also made his maiden speech in bringing 
them forward, which is said to have been an ef- 
fort of no ordinary ability. He was an accom- 
plished scholar, a finished gentleman, and brought 
to the cause of liberty all the ardor and enthusi- 
asm of youth ; but he was disappomted in sharing 
the noble triumph which crowned his efforts. 
In about three months from this time he was laid 
in the grave, and his country left to mourn one 
of its most promising sons. 

*Mr. Wirt claims the honor of originating this measure, for 
Virginia. Tliis, however, is doubtless an error. On the 7th 
of November, 1770, the House of Representatives of Massa- 
chusetts, as appears from its records, appointed a committee 
to correspond with committees in the other colonies, the oh- 
ject of which seems to have been precisely similar to that 
contemplated by Mr. Carr's resolution. — [See Tucker's Life 
of Jefferson, page 53.] 

Mr. Carr was a brother-in-law to Mr, Jefferson. The plgui 
of corresponding commitLees as introduced into the house of 
burgesses was fixed on in a caucus held at the Raleigh tavern, 
consisting of Messrs. Henry, R. H. Lee, F. L. Lee, Carr, Jef- 
ferson, and two or three others. Mr. Jefferson was first de- 
signated to move the resolutions, but declined in favor of Mr. 
Carr. It is highly probable that the proposition was set oa 
foot by the fertile mind of Mr. Jeffersou. 



Age 36. Patrick henry. 85 

Mr. Henry seems to have had a settled pre- 
sentiment from the first, that no reconcihation 
would take place between the king and his 
American subjects, and that the congest would 
sever us forever from the parent country. This 
sentiment he has been heard fr^equently to ex- 
press, and Mr. Pope communicated to Mr. Wirt 
a striking anecdote in proof of his steadfast faith 
in this result. " I am informed," he says, " by 
Col. John Overton, that before one drop of blood 
w^as shed in our contest with Great Britain, he 
was at Col. Samuel Overton's in company with 
Mr. Henry, Col. Morris, John Hawkins, and Col. 
Samuel Overton, when the last mentioned gen- 
tleman asked Mr. Henry * whether he supposed 
Great Britain would drive her colonies to ex 
tremities 1 and if she should, what he thought 
would be the issue of the war V When Mr. 
Henry, after looking around to see who were 
present, expressed himself confidentially to the 
company in the following manner : — ' She tvill 
drive us to extremities — no accommodation will 
take place — hostilities will soon commence — and 
a desperate and bloody touch it will be.' 

" ' But,' said Col. Samuel Overton, ' do you 
think, Mr. Henry, that an infant nation, as we 
are, without discipline, arms, ammunition, ships 
of war, or money to procure them — do you think 

H 



86 PATRICK HENRY. 1773 

it possible, thus circumstanced, to oppose suc- 
cessfully the fleets and armies of Great Britain V 
' I will be candid with you,' repHed Mr. Henry : 
' I doubt whether we shall be able, alone, to 
cope with so powerful a nation. But,' contin- 
ed he, rising from his chair with great anima- 
tion, ' Where is France ? Where is Spain 1 
Where is Holland ? the natural enemies of Great 
Britain. — Where will they be all this while 7 
Do you suppose they will stand by, idle and in- 
different spectators to the contest ? Will Louis 
XVI. be asleep all this time ? Believe me, 7io ! 
When Louis XVL shall be satisfied by our seri- 
ous opposition, and our Declaration of Indepen- 
dence, that all prospect of a reconciliation is 
gone, then, and not till then, will he furnish us 
with arms, ammunition, and clothing ; and not 
with these only, but he will send his fleets and 
armies to fight our battles for us ; he will form 
with us a treaty offensive and defensive against 
our unnatural mother. Spain and Holland will 
join the confederation ! Our independence will 
be established ! and we shall take our stand 
among the nations of the earth !' Here he 
ceased, and Col. John Overton says he shall 
never forget the voice and prophetic manner 
with which these predictions were uttered, and 
which have since been so literally verified. 



Age 36 . Patrick henry. 87 

Col. Overton says, at the word independence, 
the company appeared to be startled ; for they 
had never heard any thing of the kind before, 
even suggested." 



CHAPTER VI. 

Destruction of the Tea— Boston Port Bill— The Virginia Bur- 
gesses appoint the day on which the Port Bill was to take 
effect, as a day of Fasting and Prayer — The Governor dis- 
solves the House— First Virginia Convention — First Con- 
gress — Mr. Henry opens the proceedings of Congress with 
a splendid speech— Is appointed on all the most important 
Committees— Effect of the Congress abroad. 

The plot of the Revolutionary drama was now 
rapidly thickening and every day teemed with 
portentous events. In the latter part of the year 
1773 several vessels arrived in the harbor of 
Boston loaded with tea. This was an article 
which, according to act of Parliament, was char- 
ged with a duty of three cents a pound, and its 
use had already been largely diminished by the 
non-importation agreements of the country. 
The inhabitants immediately held a meeting and 
resolved that the tea should not be landed. The 
Governor, however, in order to defeat their pur» 



Age 37. Patrick heney. 89 

pose, refused to let the vessels pass out of the 
harbor. In consequence of this movement a 
second meeting vi^as called, and the people, hav- 
ing determined on adhering to their former pur- 
pose, laid their plans accordingly. About twenty- 
persons disguised in the dress of Mohawk In- 
dians repaired to the wharf and, protected by a 
vast concourse of people on shore, entered the 
vessels and broke open three hundred and forty 
two chests of tea, and emptied their contents into 
the ocean. In consequence of this daring and 
determined resistance to the principle of British 
taxation, parliament passed an order closing the 
port of Boston, then the most commercial city in 
the Colonies. The effect of this ordinance 
%vas to cut off all foreign trade from the city oi 
Boston, and it was to take effect on the first o- 
June, 1774. 

The news of this extraordinary retaliation 
swept over the continent like a hurricane, and 
every where elicited the strongest marks of re- 
sentment. The Virginia house of burgesses was 
in session at the time, and immediately passed 
an order for setting apart the day thus fixed upon 
for the operation of the Port Bill, as a " day oi 
fasting, humiliation and prayer, devoutly to im 
plore the Divine interposition in averting the 
heavy calamity which threatens destruction to 
h2 



90 PATRICK HENKY. " 1774 

our civil rights, and the evils of civil war ; to 
give us one heart and one mind, firmly to oppose, 
by all just and proper means, every injury to 
American rights; and that the minds of his 
majesty and his parliament may be inspired from 
above with wisdom, moderation and justice, to 
remove from the loyal people of America all 
cause of danger from a continued pursuit of 
measures pregnant with their ruin." 

The order furthe-r specifies that the members 
shall attend in their places at the hour of ten in 
the forenoon, and proceed with the Speaker 
and the mace to the church, and that prayers 
should be read and a sermon suited to the occa- 
sion be delivered by the Rev. Mr. Price. This 
sympathy on the part of the House for the dis- 
tress of their sister colony was so offensive to 
Gov. Dunmore, the king's representative, that on 
the following day he dissolved them with this 
speech : — 

" Mr. Speaker, and gentlemen of the house of 
burgesses : — I have in my hand a paper publish- 
ed by order of your House, conceived in such 
terms as reflect highly upon his majesty and the 
parliament of Great Britain, which makes it ne- 
cessary to dissolve you and you are dissolved 
accordingly." 

The dissolution took place on the 25th of May, 



AfiF37. PATRICK HENRY. 91 

and the members withdrew and, l^y common con- 
sent, assembled at the Raleigh tavern, where 
they organized themselves into an association to 
the number of eighty-nine, and laid before the 
people a brief exposition of the novel circum- 
stances under which they had met, and recom- 
mended several measures which they deemed 
important to the security of public freedom. 
Among these last, was the first recommendation 
for a General Congress of the colonies. It is 
couched in these words : — " We are further 
clearly of opinion that an attack made on one o* 
our sister colonies to compel submission to arbi- 
trary taxes, is an attack made on all British 
America, and threatens ruin to the rights of all, 
unless the united wisdom of the whole be ap- 
plied. And for this purpose it is recommended 
to the committee of correspondence that they 
communicate with their several corresponding 
committees on the expediency of appointing dep 
uties from the several colonies of British America 
to meet in General Congress, at such place, an- 
nually, as shall be thought most convenient; 
there to deliberate on those general measures 
which the united interests of America may from 
time to time require." 

To give effect to this recommendation a con 
vention was called at Williamsburgh on the firs' 



92 PATRICK HENRY. 1774 

of August following, to take such measures as 
the public safety required, and especially to ap- 
point delegates to the General Congress which, 
according to a subsequent recommendation, 
was to convene at Philadelphia on the fifth of 
September. Mr. Henry was elected a member 
of this convention and, together with his col- 
league, received written instructions in relation 
to the weighty matters which the convention 
was to consider. This paper evinces something 
of the spirit which then pervaded America. 
On the subject of taxes it holds this strong 
language : — " Let it suffice to say, once for all 
that we will never he taxed hut hy our own repre- 
sentatives: this is the great hadge of freedom, 
and British America hath hitherto been distin- 
guished by it; and when we see the British par- 
liament trampling upon that right and acting 
with determined resolution to destroy it, we 
would wish to see the united wisdom of America 
collected for its defence." 

The delegates to the first Virginia convention 
assembled at the appointed time, and their pro- 
ceedings are marked with a resolution, dignity, 
firmness and moderation which, in the exaspera- 
ted state of the public feeling are truly remarka- 
ble. They pledged themselves to make common 
cause with the people of Boston in every extrem- 



Age 38. Patrick henry. 93 

ity, and to break off all commercial connexion 
with Great Britain till their united grievances 
should be redressed. They empowered their 
presiding officer, Mr. Peyton Randolph, or in 
case of his death, Mr. Robert C. Nicholas, to 
convene the delegates of the colony whenever in 
his opinion occasion might require : and they ap 
pointed as delegates to the General Congress, 
Messrs. Peyton Randolph, Richard Henry Lee 
George Washington, Patrick Henry, Richard 
Bland, Benjamin Harrison, and Edmund Pendle- 
ton. 

These delegates were furnished with a letter 
of instructions which was to serve as the basis Ox 
their action in the great congress of the colonies 
and which is marked by the same firmness and 
dignity w^hich characterized the other proceed 
ings of the convention. It distinctly disavow^s 
any hostility to the constitutional government o^ 
England ; but, on the other hand, declares that 
" we desire our delegates to express, in the first 
place, our faith and true allegiance to his maj- 
esty. King George the Third, our lawful and 
rightful sovereign; and that we are determined 
with our lives and fortunes to su.pport him in the 
legal exercise of all his just rights and preroga 
tives. And however misrepresented, we sincere 
ly approve of a constitutional connexion wdth 



94 PATRICK HENRY. 1774 

Great Britain, and wish, most ardently, a return 
of that intercourse of affection and commercial 
connexion that formerly united both countries ; 
which can only be effected by a removal of 
those causes of discontent which have, of late, 
unhappily divided us." 

The letter of instructions then goes on to re- 
count some of the grievances of the colonies, 
and states the extent to which the people of Vir- 
ginia are willing to go in order to obtain redress. 
It says : — " They are willing to undergo the great 
inconvenience that will be derived to them from 
stopping all imports whatsoever from Great 
Britain, after the first day of November next, 
and also to cease exporting any commodity 
whatsoever to the same place, after the tenth 
day of August, 1775." It also states " the 
earnest desire we have to make as quick 
and full payment as possible of our debts to 
Great Britain," and canvasses with great ability 
the conduct and proclamation of Gen. Gage, be- 
lieving " that the executing or attempting to ex- 
ecute such proclamation, will justify resistance 
and reprisal. ^^ 

The Congress which had thus been called, 
convened on the fourth of September, 1774, at 
Carpenter's Hall in the city of Philadelphia, and 
Peyton Randolph, of Virginia, was called to pre- 



Age 38. Patrick henry. 95 

side over its deliberations. " The most eminent 
men of the various colonies," says Mr. Wirt, 
" were now for the first time brouoht too;ether. 
They were known to each other by fame, but 
personally they w^ere strangers. The meeting 
was awfully solemn. The object which had 
called them together was of incalculable magni 
tude. The liberties of no less than three mil 
lions of people, with that of all their posterity 
were staked on the wisdom and energy of theii 
councils. No wonder, then, at the long and 
deep silence which is said to have followed upor 
their organization — at the anxiety with which 
the members looked around on each other — and 
the reluctance which every individual felt to 
open a business so fearfully momentous. 

" In the midst of this deep and death-like si 
lence, and just when it w^as beginning to become 
painfully embarrassing, Mr. Henry arose, slow 
ly, as if borne down with the weight of the sub 
ject. After faltering, according to his habit, 
through a most impressive exordium, in which 
he merely echoed back the consciousness ot 
every other heart, in deploring his inability to 
do justice to the occasion, he launched gradually 
into a recital of the colonial wrongs. Rising 
as he advanced, with the grandeur of his subject 
and glowing, at length, with all the majt^sty 



96 PATRICK HENRY. 1774 

and expectation of the occasion, his speech seem- 
ed more than that of mortal man. 

" Even those who had heard him in all his 
glory in the house of burgesses of Virginia, were 
astonished at the manner in which his talents 
seemed to swell and expand themselves, to fill 
the vaster theatre in which he was now placed. 
There was no rant — no rhapsody — no labor of 
the understanding — no straining of the voice — 
no confusion of utterance. His countenance 
was erect — his eye steady — his action noble — 
his enunciation clear and firm — his mind poised 
on its centre — his views of his subject compre- 
hensive and great — and his imagination corus- 
cating with a magnificence and a variety w^hich 
struck even that assembly with amazement and 
awe. He sat dow^n amidst murmurs of as- 
tonishment and applause ; and as he had been 
before proclaimed the greatest orator of Virginia, 
he was now on every hand admitted to be the 
first orator of America." 

He was followed by another luminary of that 
constellation of statesmen w^hich Virginia had 
furnished to the National Council, Mr. Richard 
Henry Lee, who, with an eloquence more chaste 
and classical but less overwhelming and grand, 
deepened the impression made by his predeces- 
sor, and prepared the way for that course of 



Age 38. Patrick henry. 97 

action which was subsequently adopted. A pe 
tition to the king, an address to the people o 
Great Britain, and a memorial to the inhabitant. 
of the colonies were agreed upon, and in conse 
quence of the brilliancy displayed on this occa 
sion by the Virginia orators, they were appoint, 
ed, in conjunction with others, on all the com 
mittees for drawing these papers. 

Here, however, their powers had been mista- 
ken. Neither Mr. Henry nor Mr. Lee possessed 
any peculiar merit as a writer, notwithstanding 
their wonderful powers of eloquence. As it re- 
gards Mr. Henry, especially, his mind wanted 
that sober discipline and methodic training which 
are so essential to composition, and it was other- 
wise defective on account of the early neglect 
which it had suffered. On this occasion Mr. 
Henry had been charged with drawing the peti- 
tion to the king, and Mr. Lee with the address 
to the people of England. Both of these failed 
to give satisfaction. Mr. Lee's report was made 
first, and Mr. Wirt informs us that " on reading 
it, great disappointment was expressed in every 
countenance, and a dead silence ensued for some 
minutes. At length it was laid on the table for 
perusal and consideration till the next day, when 
first one member and then another arose and 
paying some faint compliment to the composition 



98 PATRICK HENRY. 1774 

observed that there were still certain consid- 
erations not expressed, which should properly 
find a place in it. The address was therefore 
committed for amendment, and one prepared by 
Mr. Jay, and offered by Governor Livingston, 
was reported and adopted with scarcely an alter- 
ation. Mr. Henry's draft of a petition to the 
king," he continues, " was equally unsuccessful, 
and was recommitted for amendment. Mr. John 
Dickinson was added to the committee, and a 
new draft, prepared by him, was adopted." 

Mr. Henry required the presence of a crowd, 
as well as the weight of a great subject, to kin- 
dle the flame of his genius. He was never suc- 
cessful either in the composition of great state 
papers or the details of business. Gov. Tyler 
relates that after Mr. Henry and Mr. Lee, had 
overwhelmed the House with these bursts of 
their eloquence, Mr. Chase, a delegate from Ma- 
ryland, walked across the House to where he 
was sitting and said in an under tone : " We 
might as well go home ; we are not able to leg- 
islate with these men." After the house began 
to launch out into details, however, Mr. Chase 
oon discovered that these Samsons were shorn 
t)f their locks. " Well," said he, " I find these 
are but nien, after all, and in mere itiatters of 
jusiness, but very common men.''^ But it was 



Age 38. Patrick henry. 99 

only in the execution of these details that Mr. 
Henry failed. He seems to have possessed a 
comprehensive mind, and a sound, masculine un- 
derstanding. He was seldom in error as to any 
great result. 

The acts of this Congress gave a weight and 
dignity to the position of America, and made 
the stand which she had taken known to the 
world. The addresses which were sent to Eu- 
rope seem to have made a deep impression, 
although they produced no change of policy. 
They were alluded to in glowing terms by Mr. 
Pitt, in the House of Lords, who regarded them 
as marked with the greatest " dignity, firmness, 
and wisdom." " History," said he, " has been 
my favorite study, and in the celebrated writings 
of antiquity I have often admired the patriotism 
of Greece and Rome ; but, my lords, I must de- 
clare and avow, that in the master states of the 
world, I know not the people nor the senate, 
who, in such a complication of difficult circum- 
stances, can stand in preference to the delegates 
of America, assembled in general Congress at 
Philadelphia. I trust that it is obvious to your 
lordships that all attempts to impose servitude 
upon such men, to establish a despotism over 
such a mip-hty continental nation, must be vain, 
must be futile." 



100 PATRICK HENRY. 1774 

Congress arose in October, and Mr. Henry 
returned to his native county more than ever 
convinced that no reccncihation could ever take 
place between the people and their sovereign. 
tie saviT that the wound-s of America were too 
deep ever to be healed, and he looked forward 
with enthusiasm to the time when she should 
assume a bolder position ; taking that ground in 
the controversy which he firmly believed she 
must ultimately assume. He had a settled aver- 
sion to the whole family of oppression ; and 
pride, cruelty and tyranny were his abhorrence. 
His democracy was a part of himself; inherent 
in his very nature ; the breath of his nostrils, 
and the ruling principle of his life. Whenever 
the question was between privilege and equality, 
every body knew where to fmd Mr. Henry. 
His perception of results, too, was intuitive. He 
read the signs of the times at a glance, and was 
thus enabled to keep continually in advance of 
public opinion and to give it that direction which 
his judgment pointed out. We shall see in the 
next chapter that the same spirit which had awa- 
kened the tempest, was destined to lash it into 
still greater fury — that the opposition which he 
had raised was soon to be directed to a practical 
end. 



CHAPTER VII. 

Second Virginia Convention — Its temporizing spirit — Mr 
H'enry introduces resolutions in favor of organizing the mi- 
litia, and supports them with transcendant ability — The res- 
olutions adopted — Other proceedings of the Convention and 
its adjournment. 

The second convention of the Virginia dele 
gates was convened in an old church at Rich- 
mond, on the 20th of March, 1775. Mr. Henry 
was, of course, a member. Hitherto the tone of 
the proceedings in all public bodies had been con- 
ciliatory. There was an evident indisposition'to 
push the contest to extremes, and every measure 
had been taken with a view to reconciliation. 
The convention of the preceding year, and the 
Congress of the colonies had both acted on this 
principle ; had continued to prciess their attach- 
ment to the parent country, and to be laboring 
only to secure that change of policy which should 
i2 



102 PATRICK HENBY. 1775 

estore them to the footing of former years. 
' We wish not," said the Congress, " a diminu- 
tion of the prerogative, nor do we sohcit the 
grant of any new right in our favor. Your roy- 
al authority over us, and our connexion with 
Great Britain we shall always carefully and 
zealously endeavor to support and maintain." 

Mr. Henry had borne with this temper from 
year to year, but his judgment preponderated in 
favor of a more decided policy. He saw that 
the people were amusing themselves with false 
hopes and that it vras time for them to be made 
acquainted with their true po-sition. He knew 
that so long as a temporizing course was pursued, 
so long the cause of the colonies would continue 
to be feeble, and he was for cutting the gordion 
knot and crossing the Rubicon at once. The 
great body of the convention were, however, 
averse to what they regarded as hasty and rash 
measures, and they proceeded, as before, on the 
supposition that reconciliation was yet attain- 
able. 

They approved of the measures of Congress; 
voted the thanks of the convention to its dele- 
gates ; acknowledged, Avith expressions of grat- 
itude, the sympathy of Jamaica, and resolved 
that it was the " ardent wish of the colony to 
see a speedy return of those halcyon days, when 



Age 38. Patrick henry. 103 

they lived a free and happy people." The tem- 
per of these proceedings was not at all suited to 
Mr. Henry's views, and, believing that the time 
had now arrived when the House should be 
wrought up to a bolder tone, he moved the fol- 
lowing manly resolutions : — 

"Resolved, That a well regulated militia, 
composed of gentlemen and yeomen, is the nat- 
ural strength and only security of a free govern- 
ment ; that such a militia in this colony would 
forever render it unnecessary for the mother 
country to keep among us, for the purpose ot 
our defence, any standing army of mercenary 
soldiers, always subversive of the quiet, and dan- 
gerous to the liberties of the people, and would 
obviate the pretext of taxing us for their sup- 
port. 

" Resolved, That the establishment of such a 
militia is, at this time, peculiarly necessary, by 
the state of our laws, for the protection and de- 
fence of the country, some of which are already 
expired and others will shortly be so ; and that 
the known remissness of government in calling 
us together in a legislative capacity, renders it 
too insecure, in this time of danger and distress, 
to rely that opportunity will be given of renew- 
ing them in general assembly, or making any 
provision to secure our inestimable rights and 



104 PATRICK HENRY. 1775 

liberties from those further violations with which 
they are threatened. 

" Resolved, therefore, that this colony be im- 
mediately put into a state of defence, and that 

be a committee to prepare a plan 

for imbodying, arming and disciplining such a 
number of men as may be necessary for that 
purpose." 

On the introduction of these resolutions the 
House was immediately filled with consternation 
and alarm. The shock which they produced 
was painful. Such a measure had not been an- 
ticipated and was regarded as hasty, rash and pre- 
sumptive. The resolutions were consequently 
met at the threshold with a po^Jerful, and appa- 
rently, an overwhelming opposition. Some of 
the firmest patriots in the Flouse opposed them 
with all their vigor and ability, and even Rich- 
ard Bland, Benjamin Harrison, and Edmund 
Pendleton who were among the most useful and 
distinguished members of the late Congress, as 
well as Robert C. Nicholas, one of the best pat- 
riots and ablest men in the state, brought against 
them all the weight of their influence as well as 
the power of their logic. 

It was urged that the late petition to the 
throne had been graciously received ; that the 
friends of colonial liberty in England were doing 



Age 38 /atrick henry. 105 

their utmost ; that the sovereign himself had re- 
relented, and was now meditating terms of pa- 
cification ; that the colonies were not able to 
cope for one moment with the power of Great 
Britain ; that they had neither arms, nor money, 
nor military stores, nor even soldiers or gene- 
rals ; that they were poor, defenceless and de- 
pendent ; that the issue of a contest courted 
under such disadvantages must inevitably be 
disaster and submission ; that every hope of re- 
conciliation would thus be forever destroyed, 
and that it would be time enough to resort to 
measures of desperation when every well found- 
ed hope had vanished. 

It must be acknowledged that the reasons 
urged against Mr. Henry's resolutions were but 
too well justified by the aspect of the times and 
the condition of America. But Mr. Henry's 
spirit was not prone to feel its way along a mid- 
dle course. He delighted in dashing up to his 
object by the shortest road however hedged up 
with difficulties. He had made up his mind on 
the alternatives which the cases presented ; he 
saw " the end from the beginning ;" he seized 
on the fortunate moment for action ; and, although 
evidently sensible of the weight of that respon 
sibility which he was assuming, he once more 
'' determined to venture." Mr. Wirt tells us 



106 PATRICK HENRY. 1775 

that on this occasion he arose " with a majesty 
unusual to him in an exordium, and with all that 
self-possession by which he was so invariably 
distinguished." 

" No man," he said, " thought more highly 
than he did of the patriotism, as well as abilities, 
of the very worthy gentlemen who had just ad- 
dressed the House. But different men often saw 
the same subject in different lights ; and, there- 
fore, he hoped it would not be thought disre- 
spectful to those gentlemen if, entertaining as he 
did, opinions of a character very opposite to 
theirs, he should speak forth his sentiments free- 
ly and without reserve. This," he said " was 
no time for ceremony. The question before this 
House was one of awful moment to the country. 
For his own part he considered it nothing less 
than a question of freedom or slavery. And in 
proportion to the magnitude of the subject, ought 
to be the freedom of the debate. It was only ir 
thi's way that they could hope to arrive at truth 
and fulfil the great responsibility which they held 
to God and their country. Should he keep 
back his opinions at such a time through fear ol 
giving offence, he should consider himself as 
guilty of treason toward his country, and of an 
act of disloyalty toward the majesty of heaven, 
which he revered above all earthly kings. 



Agf38. PATRICK HENRY. 107 

" Mr. President," said he, " it is natural for 
man to indulge in the illusions of hope. We are 
apt to shut our eyes against a painful truth, and 
listen to the song of that syren till she transforms 
us into beasts. Is this," he asked, " the part of 
wise men, engaged in a great and arduous strug- 
gle for liberty 1 Were we disposed to be of the 
number of those who, having eyes, see not, and 
having ears, hear not, the things which so nearly 
concern their temporal salvation ? For his own 
part, whatever anguish of spirit it might cost, he 
was wilhng to know the whole truth ; to know 
the worst and to provide for it. 

" He had," he said, " but one lamp by which 
his feet were guided, and that was the lamp of 
experience. He knew of no way of judging of 
the future but by the past. And, judging by the 
past, he wished to know what there had been in 
the conduct of the British ministry for the last 
ten years, to justify those hopes with which gen- 
tlemen had been pleased to solace themselves 
and the House ? Is it that insidious smile with 
which our petition has been lately received 1 
Trust it not, sir : it will prove a snare to your 
feet ! Suffer not yourselves to be betrayed with 
a kiss. Ask yourselves how this gracious recep 
lion of our petition comports with those warlik 
preparations which cover our waters and darker 



108 PATRICK HENRY. 1775 

our land. Are fleets and armies necessary to a 
work of love and reconciliation 7 Have we 
shown ourselves so unwilling to be reconciled, 
that force must be called in to win back our 
love ? Let us not deceive ourselves, sir ! These 
are the implements of war and subjugation ; the 
last arguments to which kings resort. I ask 
gentlemen, sir, what means this martial array, 
if its purpose be not to force us to submission ? 
Can gentlemen assign any other possible motive 
for it '? Has Great Britain any enemy in this 
quarter of the world to call for all this accumu- 
lation of navies and armies ? No, sir, she has 
none. They are meant for us : they can be meant 
for no other. They are sent over to bind and rivet 
upon us those chains which the British ministry 
have been so long forging. And what have we 
to oppose to them 1 Shall we try argument '? Sir, 
we have been trying that for the last ten years. 
Have we any thing new to offer upon the subject 1 
Nothing. We have held the subject up in every 
light of which it is capable ; but it has been all 
in vain. Shall we resort to entreaty and/ hum- 
ble supplication? What terms shall we find 
which have not been already exhausted ? Let us 
not, I beseech you, sir, deceive ourselves longer. 
Sir, we have done every thing that could be 
done to avert the storm which is now comingon 



Age 38. Patrick henry. 109 

We have petitioned — we have remonstrated — 
we have supplicated — we have prostrated our- 
selves before the throne, and have implored 
its interposition to arrest the tyrannical hands oi 
the ministry and parliament. Our petitions have 
been slighted ; our remonstrances have produced 
additional violence and insult ; our supplications 
have been disregarded; and we have been 
spurned with contempt from the foot of the 
throne. In vain, after these things, may we in- 
dulge the fond hope of peace and reconciliation. 
There is no longer any room for hope. If we 
wish to be free ; if we wish to preserve inviolate 
those inestimable privileges for which we have 
been so long contending ; if we mean not basely 
to abandon the noble struggle in which we have 
been so long engaged, and which we have 
pledged ourselve never to abandon until the glo- 
rious object of our contest shall be obtained — 
we must fight !* — I repeat it, sir, we must fight ! ! 
An appeal to arms and to the God of hosts is all 
that is left us ! 

" They tell us, sir, that we are weak — unabk 

* It may be proper to state on the authority of Mr. Tudor 
that the expression, " We must fight," had been used before, 
by John Adams, in a letter to Major Hawley, and that a copy 
had been shown Mr. Henry at the first Congress. Mr. Henry 
was, however, the first who uttered it in public. 
E 



110 PATRICK HENRY. 1775 

^o cope with so formidable an adversary. But 
when shall we be stronger ? Will it be next 
week, or next year ? V/ill it be when we are 
totally disarmed, and w^hen a British guard shall 
be stationed in every house ? Shall we gather 
strength by irresolution and inaction ? Shall 
we acquire the means of effectual resistance by 
lying supinely on our backs, and hugging the 
delusive phantom of hope until our enemies shall 
have bound us hand and foot ? Sir, we are not 
weak, if we make a proper use of those means 
which the God of nature hath placed in our 
power. Three millions of people armed in the 
holy cause of liberty and in such a country as 
that which we possess are invincible by any 
force which our enemy can send against us. Be- 
sides, sir, we shall not fight our battles alone. 
There is a just God who presides over the desti- 
nies of nations and who w^ill raise up friends to 
fight our battles for us. The battle, sir, is not 
to the strong alone ; it is to the vigilant, the ac- 
tive, the brave. And again, we have no election. 
If we were base enough to desire it, it is now 
too late to retire from the contest. There is no 
retreat but in submission and slavery! Our 
chains are forgeal ! Their clanking may be heard 
on the plains of Boston ! The war is inevitable 1 
and, let it come !! I repeat it, sir, let it come!!! 



Age 38. Patrick henry. Ill 

" It is vain, sir, to extenuate the matter. Gen- 
flemen may cry peace, peace — but there is no 
peace ! The war is actually begun ! The next 
gale that sweeps from the north will bring to our 
ears the clash of resounding arms ! Our breth- 
ren are already in the field ! Why stand we 
here idle ? What is it that gentlemen wish ? 
What would they have ? Is life so dear, or 
peace so sweet as to be purchased at the price 
of chains and slavery? Forbid it. Almighty 
God ! I know not what course others may take ; 
but as for me," he cried, with both arms exten- 
ded aloft ; his brow knit ; every feature marked 
with the resolute purpose of his soul, and his 
voice swelled to its loudest note — *' Give me 



LIBERTY OR GIVE ME DEATH 



? \ I" 



Mr. Wirt adds : — " He took his seat. No 
murmur of applause was heard. The effect was 
too deep. After the trance of a moment, seve- 
ral members started from their seats. The cry 
to arms! seemed to quiver on every lip and 
gleam from every eye. Richard Henry Lee 
arose and supported Mr. Henry with his usual 
spirit and elegance, but his melody was lost 
amid the agitations of that ocean which the mas- 
ter spirit of the storm had lifted up on high. 
That supernatural voice still sounded in theii 
ears and shivered along their arteries. They 



112 PATRICK HENRY. 1775 

heard in every pause the cry of liberty or death. 
They became impatient of speech — their souls 
were on fire for action."* 

After such an appeal, it is almost unnecessary 
to add that Mr. Henry's resolutions were adopted. 
The committee appointed to prepare the spe- 
cified plan consisted of Patrick Henry, Richard 
H. Lee, Robert C. Nicholas, Benjamin Harrison, 
Lemuel Reddick, George Washington, Adam 
Stevens, Andrew Lewis, William Christian, Ed- 
mund Pendleton, Thomas Jefferson, and Isaac 
Zane. It will be seen" that some of these indi- 
viduals are among the number who opposed the 
resolutions. They w^ere, however, honest and 
able men, and notwithstanding their opposition, 
came in, heart and hand, to assist in carrying 
them into effect. 

At this convention Mr. Henry was also found 
on the watch-tower of liberty in other matters. 
He was always ferreting out some deed of royal 
misrule ; some rude encroachment of arbitrary 

* The bold part which Mr. Henry thus took tliroughout the 
whole course of our difficulties singled him out for British 
vengeance. He was on a list of proscribed patriots in a bill 
of attainder before the House of Parliament Avhich, in conse- 
quence of the course of events in America was withdrawn. 
The two Adamses, Peyton Randolph, Mr. Jefferson, and sev- 
ral others were also included in the bill.— [See Tucker's Life 
of Jefferson, page 61.] 



AgkSS. PATRICK HENRY. 113 

power. Gov. Dunmore having by royal au 
thority made proclamation for the sale of cer 
tain public lands, annexed to the terms of sale a 
reservation of one half penny per acre, by way 
of annual quit rent, and also all the mines oi 
gold, silver, and precious stones, which were 
also to revert to the crown. The tendency oi 
such a procedure was not very likely to escape 
the eagle eye of such a republican as Mr. Hen- 
ry. He introduced a resolution for appointing 
a committee, whose duty should be to inquire 
" w^hether his majesty may of right advance the 
terms of granting land in this colony," and that 
in the mean time " it be recommended to all per- 
sons Vv'hatever to forbear purchasing or accept- 
ing lands on the conditions before mentioned." 

Mr. Henry's resolution was immediately 
adopted, and the committee appointed under it 
consisted of Patrick Henry, Richard Bland, 
Thomas Jefferson, Robert C. Nicholas and Ed- 
mund Pendleton. The convention also adopted 
a plan for the encouragement of arts and manu- 
factures and, having re-appointed their former 
delegates to the next Congress, with the excep- 
tion of substituting the name of Mr. Jefferson 
for that of Mr. Randolph, in case the presence 
of the latter should be required to attend a ses- 
sion of the house of burgesses, they adjourned. 
k2 



CHAPTER VIII. 

Commencement of hostilities at Concord— Got. Dunmore pro- 
cures the removal of twenty barrels of powder from the 
magazine in Williamsburgh — Spirit of the people on this 
occasion — Further aggressions of the Governor — Mr. Henry 
determines to require payment for the powder — Assembles 
the Hanover company and marches towards Williamsburgh 
— Is met by the Governor's order — Governor's proclamation 
— Mr. Henry starts for Congress. 

The words of Mr. Henry uttered in the late 
Virginia convention proved to be prophetic. 
The war had, indeed, begun; and the next 
gale which swept from the north brought 
to his willing ears, the " clash of resounding 
arms " The storm of the revolution broke, first, 
ovei the north ; but its clangor soon reached the 
middle and southern states. The same motive 
which induced Gov. Gage to destroy the military 
stores collected at Concord, operated about the 
same time on the kinoj's executives all over the 



Age 38. Patrick henry. 115 

continent. While they held out the prospects 
of reconciliation they took every opportunity to 
render the colonies powerless by securing their 
arms and other munitions of war, and the minis- 
try contributed to the same end by prohibiting 
the importation of gun powder. 

The example of Gen. Gage, who had opened 
the bloody drama of the Revolution on the 18th 
of April, by an attempt to wrest from the Amer- 
icans by force the stores which they had collect- 
ed at Concord, was follow^ed by a series of simi- 
lar outrages all over the country. In Virginia, 
a body of marines acting under instructions from 
Gov. Dunmore, landed from the armed schooner 
Magdalen and, under the command of Captain 
Henry Collins, entered Williamsburgh in the 
dead of the night, and carried off from the pub- 
lic magazine about twenty barrels of powder 
and placed them on board the schooner in safety 
before the transaction was known. 

This event occurred on the 20th of April, five 
days after the battle of Lexington. The exaspe- 
ration which it occasioned may easily be con- 
ceived. The inhabitants flew to arms with a 
settled determination to compel the restoration ot 
the powder ; but thry w^ere dissuaded from their 
pui'pose by the leacling men of the place, who 
assured them that measures should be immedi- 



116 PATRICK HENRY. 1775 

ately taken to procure its restoration in a peace- 
ful manner, and without the shedding of blood. 
The city council accordingly met and, in their 
official capacity, addressed the Governor on the 
subject, intimating that there was ground to ap- 
prehend an insurrection of the slaves, and that 
the colony was unsafe without a constant supply 
of powder and arms. The answer which he re- 
turned was vague and unsatisfactory, but it con- 
.tained a pledge, upon his word and honor, that 
whenever the powder was wanted for any insur- 
rection it should be delivered in half and hour. 
fJThe conditional pledge was used to such advan- 
tage by those who were for peaceful measures, 
that it had the effect of quieting the more fiery 
spirits for the present. Another alarm, however, 
took place on the succeeding night, and again 
the inhabitants seized their arms and came 
swarming together at the general rendezvous ; 
but they were again quieted and dissuaded from 
undertaking any expedition. 

The earnestness manifested by the people on 
these occasions seems to have alarmed the 
Governor for the safety of some of his creatures 
who were still u^ the city, and he sent in a mes- 
sage on the following day that if any insult were 
offered to Captain Foy or Captain Collins, " he 
ivould declare freedom to the slaves and lay the 



Age 38 PATRICK HENJIY. 117 

fo7vn in ashes. ^^ The effect of this threat, fol 
It wing so sooD after the plunder of the powder 
was sliil further to exasperate the state of pub- 
Uc feehng, which was not greatly allayed by dis- 
covering that the Go-'^rnor had also caused the 
looks to be removed from the muskets in the 
magazine. 

Already the whole cou^itry was in a blaze; 
and, in the midst of their irritation, came the 
startling news from the noiih — the battles oi 
Lexington and Concord, and the plunder of the 
public stores. The whole system of colonial 
subjugation w^as now apparent. The shock 
aroused the citizen soldiers on every side and, b}' 
the 27th, seven hundred men were assembled 
and under arms at Fredrici*:sburgh, ready for any 
enterprise which should present itself. They were, 
how^ever, again prevented from taking strong 
measures by a letter from Peyton Randolph, Esq 
who stilted that the most positive assurance hac 
been received from the Governror that the a flail 
of the pow^der should be accommodated, and ad 
vising that no violent steps should be takcii a 
present. They accord-ingly disbanded, with thf 
understanding that they were to be ready at j 
moment's w^arning w^henever any emergency 
should demand their services. 

This mode of conipounding with the Governor 



118 PATRICK HENRY. 1775 

after so gross an outrage on the rights and pro- 
perty of the colony, was any thing but pleasing 
to Mr. Henry. He saw things with the eye ol 
a soldier as well as a statesman, and therefore 
felt the importance of striking a decisive blow 
before any large force should arrive from abroad. 
He knew how much was gained by inspiring 
confidence ; by securing the first advantage 
and by seizing on the moment of ardor and en- 
thusiasm for action. In short, he was determin- 
ed that the afFau' of the magazine should not be 
put to rest so quietly, and, as soon as he heard of 
the circumstances narrated above, he sent express 
riders to the Independent Company of Hanover, 
requesting them to meet him under arms on the 
second of May, on business of the highest im- 
portance to American liberty. 

On the day appointed they came together, 
and Mr. Henry addressed them with all the pow 
er of his eloquence. He inflamed their patriot 
ism by calling up before them the fields of Lex 
ington and Concord still warm with the blood Oj 
their brethren ; he showed them that the object 
of the ministry was to render the colonics pow 
erless by seizing their military stores ; that the 
late plunder of the magazine at Williamsburg 
was only part of the general system of warfare 
that the moment had come when they must de 



A.GE 38. PATRICK HENKY. 119 

3i(le whether they would assert their freedom or 
oasely submit to be slaves. He reminded them 
of the pillar of cloud and the pillar of fire which 
guided the children of Israel ; of the water gush- 
ing from the rock at Horeb ; of the miraculous 
passage of the Red Sea, and then, with his eye 
uplifted, his arms aloft, and his whole soul 
burning with inspiration, declared that the same 
God still ruled in the heavens ; that he was 
watching from his throne the oppressions of his 
people in America, and that he was still strong 
to deliver and mighty to save. 

In short, he poured forth such sublime and 
lofty passages of native eloquence; such bold 
and stirring appeals to their patriotism, and 
such a glowing picture of their oppression, that 
the meeting was in a flame and decided at once 
that the powder should be immediately restored 
or counterbalanced by a retrisal. Mr. Henry, 
therefore, put himself at the head of the company, 
Captain Meredith having resigned in his favor, 
and, obtaining such orders as he desired from the 
county committee, took up his line of march 
for WilliSmsburgh. He soon after dispatched 
a party of sixteen men under the command of 
his ensign, Parke Goodall, to the residence of 
Richard Corbin, the receiver-general, with in- 
structions to dem.and three hundred and thirty 



1*20 PATRICK HENRY. 1775 

pounds in money, the estimated value of the 
powder, or bring him away prisoner. Unfortu- 
nately for the success of this expedition the 
receiver-general was not at home, and the party 
rejoined their commander before he reached 
Williamsburgh. \ 

In the mean time Mr. Henry and his gallant 
corps continued to advance, growing stronger 
and stronger at every step. A rumor of the ex- 
pedition had gone forth, and the popularity and 
renown of its leader attracted such multitudes to 
his standard that at one time his number amoun- 
ted to five thousand souls. As he approached 
the seat of government the ranks of the royalists 
were filled with dismay. Lady Dunmore and 
her family retired on board the Fowey, man oi 
war, then lying off the town of Little York, and 
the palace, as the Governor's residence was 
called, was filled w^ith marines from the Fowey 
to defend it against so serious an incursion. The 
moderate republicans were scarcely less alarmed. 
Messenger after messenger was dispatched, im 
ploring Mr. Henry to desist from his rasl 
enterprize and proceed no further, but he turned 
a deaf ear to their entreaties. The Governoi 
thundered a proclamation against him and called 
on the people to resist his progress ; but it only 
'^ wasted its sweetness on the desert air.", Cap- 



Age 38. Patrick henry. 121 

tain Montague, the commander of the Fowey 
brought another detachment from his vessel, and 
threatened, in case the palace was molested, to 
fire on the town. Still Mr. Henry was inexora- 
ble and could be appeased by nothing but a re- 
turn of the powder or its equivalent in value. 

At length Lord Dunmore began to conclude 
that " discretion was the better part of valor," 
and on the morning of the fourth of May, about 
sunrise, caused Mr. Henry to be met, and pay- 
ment to be made to the full amount claimed by 
him. The following is the receipt given by Mr 
Henry on the occasion : — 

" Doncastle^s Ordinary, JYeiv Kent, May 4, 
1775. — Received from the Hon. Richard Corbin, 
Esq. his majesty's receiver-general, <£330 as a 
compensation for the gun-powder lately taken 
out of the public magazine by the Governor's 
order ; Vvhich money I promise to convey to the 
Virginia delegates at the General Congress, to 
be, under their direction, laid out for gun-powder 
for the colony's use, and to be stored as they 
shall direct, until the next colony convention or 
general assembly, unless it shall be necessary 
in the meantime, to use the same in the defence 
of this colony. It is agreed, that in case the 
next convention shall determine that any part oi 
said money ought to be returned to his majesty's 



122 PATRICK HENRY. 1775 

said receiver-general, that the same shall be 

done accordingly. 

Patrick Henry, Jun." 

The expedition having been crowned with suc- 
cess, the volunteers returned in quiet, but with 
feelings of triumph, to their homes. The Hano- 
ver committee crave them their warmest thanks 
for the steadiness and propriety with which they 
had conducted the expedition, and also made 
their acknowledgements in a suitable manner to 
the numerous volunteers who had joined them 
with so much spirit. Two days after this tri- 
umphant essay, the Governor vented his wrath 
in another proclamation, as follows : — 

" By his excellency, the Right Hon. John, 
Earl of Dunmore, his majesty's lieutenant and 
governor general of the colony and dominion of 
Virginia, and vice-?dmiral of the same : — 
A Proclamation 

" Virginia, to wit : — Whereas, I have been 
inform.ed from undoubted authority, that a cer- 
tain Patrick Hmry, of the county of Hanover, 
and a number of deluded followers, have taken 
up arms, chosen their officers and, styling them- 
selves an Indepandent Company, have marched 
out of their county, encamped, and put them- 
selves in a posture of war, and have written and 



ArfSS. ■ PATRICK HENRY. 123 

dispatched letters to divers parts of the county, 
exciting the people to join in these outrageous 
and rebelhous practices, to the great terror of all 
his majesty's faithful subjects, and in open defi- 
ance of law and government ; and have commit- 
ted other acts of violence, particularly in ex- 
torting from his majesty's receiver-general 
the sum of three hundred and thirty pounds, 
under pretence of replacing the powder I thought 
.proper to order from the magazine : whence it 
undeniably appears that there is no longer the 
least security for the life or property of any man. 
Wherefore, I have thought proper, with the ad- 
vice of his majesty's council, and in his majesty's 
name, to issue this, my proclamation, strictly 
charging all persons upon their allegiance, not 
to aid, abet, or give countenance to the said 
Patrick Henry, or any other persons engaged in 
such unwarrantable combinations; but, on the 
contrary, to oppose them and their designs by 
every means ; which designs must inevitably in- 
volve the whole country in the most direful ca- 
lamity, as they will call for the vengeance of 
offended majesty and the insulted laws, to be ex- 
erted here to vindicate the constitutional author- 
ity of government. 

" Given under my hand and the seal of the 
colony, at Williamsburgh, this 6th day of May, 



124 PATRICK HENRY. 177f 

1775, and in the 15th year of his majesty's reign. 
" God save the king. 

" DUNMORE." 

We have inserted this proclamation entire, 
both because it is immediately connected with 
Mr. Henry's history, and because it will show 
the young reader how luminously the " lieuten- 
ants of the king" expressed themselves, and 
what a happy faculty they possessed of " dark- 
ening counsel by words without knowledge.'' 
So far as Mr. Henry was concerned the Governor's 
virtuous wrath was no more than the idle winds, 
and had no other effect than to render more con- 
spicuous and honorable the man whom it was in- 
tended to destroy. Mr. Henry, who was on the 
point of setting out for Congress when he was 
called to head this expedition, now resumed his 
journey, which, in consequence of his late brilliant 
achievement, became, as it were, a triumphal 
march. He was escorted by a large party of 
gentlemen as far as Hooe's ferry, on the Potomac^ 
and was met by innumerable messengers from 
all directions, bearing the con ratulations of hh 
countrymen on the happy success of his bold 
undertaking. It is a curious circumstance, and 
one which beautifully illustrates the character of 
Mr. Henry, that in all the bold measures relating 



Age 38. Patrick henry. 125 

to the revolution in his native province, he took 
the lead. He brought out and embodied the re- 
sistance against the stamp act; he overset and 
Bcattered to the winds the temporizing policy ol 
the convention ; he procured the oi-ganization 
of the militia and he was at the head of the first 
military movement in the colony, which was 
conducted with the same brilliant success that 
marked his contests in the senate. 



CHAPTER IX. 

Meeting of the second Congress — Its measures — Affairs in 
Virginia — Retirement of Lord Dunmore and dissolution of 
the House — Meeting of the convention — Mr. Henry appoint- 
ed a Colonel and commander of all the military forces ol 
Virginia — Resigns his commission. 

. The second Congress of the colonies assem- 
bled at Philadelphia on the 10th of May, 1775 
It comprised delegates from twelve colonies, all 
of whom were animated with a firm determina- 
tion not to yield to the arbitrary claims of the 
British ministry. Mr. Hancock, the proscribed 
patriot of Boston, was chosen president. Since 
the meeting of the last Congress the face of af 
fairs had _ greatly changed. It was now clear 
that there was a settled disposition on the part 
of the king to bring the colonies to terms by 
force of arms ; the great tragedies of Concord 
and Lexington had been enacted • "and the people 



Age 39. Patrick henry. 127 

of New England were flying to arms to avenge 
vhe blood of their murdered sons. The aspect of 
the times demanded immediate a»ii.d d«:icisive ac- 
tion, and the members came together prepared to 
stand by their rights at all hazards. 

Under these circumstances Congress did not 
long hesitate on the course to be pursued. A 
resolution was passed that " these colonies should 
be immediately put in a state of defence," and 
committees were appointed for recommending 
what posts should be occupied in New-York; 
for devising ways and means to procure m'Uitary 
stores ; for making estimates of the money ne- 
cessary to be raised ; and for preparing rules and 
regulations for the army. These preliminary 
steps being taken, the next object was the ap- 
pointment of a commander-in-chief, which was 
soon settled by the unanimous election of one of 
Mr. Henry's colleagues, the great and good 
George Washington, who, without returning to 
his home, set out immediately to take command 
of the army at Boston. 

It will be seen in a moment that this body did 
not require the promptings of Mr. Henry's elo- 
quence. The spirit of opposition was sufficiently 
aroused; the repeated wrongs endured by the 
colonies had, at length, awakened their most de- 
termined resentment ; and. the blood poured out 



128 PATRICK HENRY. 1775 

at Lexington had not only sealed the bond of 
brotherhood which had been formed between the 
colonies, but had thrilled on the nerves of a peo- 
ple, young indeed, but strong in the justice ol 
,heir cause. The details necessary to organize 
.he vast machinery to be put in motion prepar- 
{.tory to the momentous struggle which was to 
ensue, were neither suited to Mr. Henry's genius 
nor inclinations, and as this Congress w^as emi- 
nently a business assembly, Mr. Hemy does not 
appear to have attracted towards himself the 
usual degree of attention. 

Meantime the peace of Virginia became more 
and more unsettled. The general assembly had 
been convened by the proclamation of Lord 
Dunmore, and met on the fiist of June. The 
Governor addressed them with great earnestness 
on the alarming state of the colony, and laid be- 
fore them Lord North's offer of conciliation. 
The reply of the council to his address was re- 
respectful and satisfactory, but that of the House 
had not been received when an incident occurred 
which occasioned his sudden flight. 

During the exciting scenes narrated in the 
last chapter, it happened that some individuals 
who w^ere anxious to join Mr. Henry's standard 
had furnished themselves w^ith arms from the 
colonial magazine. The act was generally dis- 



Age 39. Patrick henry. 129 

approved by the most prudent and weighty cit- 
izens, who united in the m-eans used for the re- 
covery of the lost property; but yet, the affair 
gave great offence to Dunrrtore who, to gratify 
a spirit of mean and cruel revenge, caused 
spring guns to be placed in the magazine, in 
such a manner as to discharge their contents 
against any person, not in the secret, who should 
attempt to repeat the offence. As the Governor 
had anticipated, a number of persons assembled 
soon after, to supply themselves with arms for 
some particular occasion, and the two who first 
entered were most shockingly wounded. One of 
the gun-s, charged eight fingers deep, went off, 
and lodged two balls in the shoulder of one 
of the persons, while a third passed into his 
wri-st. The other had his hand badly mangled, 
and one of the fingers entirely shot away. The 
circumstance electrified the w^hole city, and the 
general indignation ^vas further increased by a 
discovery that several barrels of powder had 
been buried in the magazine, for the purpose, 
apparently, of being used as a mine, to blow up 
such persons as should be collected there without 
the Governor's consent. 

Although no violent commotion followed the 
developement of this nefarious plot, yet such 
were the suggestions of his lordship's conscience 



130 PATRICK HENRY. 1775 

that, on the following morning, he took a most un- 
ceremonious departure from the palace and sought 
shelter on board the Fowey, from the vengeance 
which he felt himself so justly to deserve. From 
his new quarters several messages were dispatch- 
ed to the House, in one of which he required 
that body to attend him on board the Fowey, for 
the purpose of obtaining his signature to the bills 
which had been passed. This requisition was, 
however, too glaringly absurd to meet with 
much favor, and, having resolved " that his lord- 
ship's message, requiring the House to attend 
him on board one of his majesty's ships of war, is 
a high breach of the rights and privileges of this 
House, they adjourned to the 12th of October 
following. 

It w^as on the occasion of the dissolution of 
this House, that Mr. Richard Henry Lee, while 
standing in the porch of the capitol with two 
other gentlemen, all of whom were about sepa- 
rating from each other, playfully scratched with 
his pencil on one of the pillars, these prophetic 
lines from Shakspeare : — 

" When shall we three meet again? 
In thunder, lightning, or in rain : 
When the hurley-burley's done, 
When the battle's lost and won." 

It did not, however require the gifts of the 



Age 39. Patrick henry. 131 

seer to discover that the storm-cloud which was 
now gathering woald end in " thujider, lightning, 
and in rain," and that the hattle was setting, 
perhaps to be lost, perhaps to be won. But 
these enlightened statesmen were, to use their 
language when they rejected Lord North's terms 
of pacification, " willing to trust in the even- 
handed justice of that Being who doth no wrong; 
earnestly beseeching him to illuminate the coun- 
cils and prosper the endeavors, of those to whom 
America had confided her hopes, that through 
their wise direction, we may again see re-united 
the blessings of liberty and prosperity." 

The Fowey moved down the river on the 29th 
of June, with Lord Dunmore on board, who 
amused himself by directing a series of depreda- 
tions along the coasts and rivers of Virginia, ex- 
citing against him the keenest resentment, and 
calling for some corresponding action on the 
part of the colony. The convention met on the 
24th of July, and its measures were characteri- 
zed by great decision and vigor. It provided 
immediately for raising two regiments of regu- 
lars to consist of over one thousand men ; divided 
the colony into sixteen military districts, each ot 
which was to raise an additional battalion of aboul 
five hundred men ; organized a committee, called 
the committee of safety, with executive powers ; 
and proceeded to appoint the military officers. 



132 PATRICK HENRY. 1775 

The lofty stand which Mr. Henry had taken 

through all the stages of our preliminary difficul- 
ties; the spirited movemeiirt which he headed ip 
relation to the pow^der; and his great personal 
popularity, seemed to point him out as the person 
best fitted to take the comjuand of these new 
levies, and he was accordingly elected colonel 
of the first regiment and " commander of all the 
forces raised and to be raised for the defence of 
the colony." Mr. William Woodford who had 
served in the French and Indian w^ar, w'as ap- 
pointed to the command of th-e second regiment. 

Mr. Henry accordingly relinquished his seat 
in Congress and, on the 20th of September was 
at the head of his command. He took up his 
quarters in the rear of William and Mary Col- 
lege at Williamsburgh, and the attraction of his 
name soon gathered to his standard large num- 
bers of ardent soldiers besides those which had 
been assigned him by the convention, and, had 
the purpose been offensive war, he was in a sit- 
uation to have annihilated any force which Lord 
Dunmore could have brought against him. But 
at present no such force w^as required for offen- 
sive operations, and the only intelligible purpose 
for which his troops w^ere collected w^as prepara- 
tion for defence. 

It is true that there was an enemy, and that 



Age 39. Patrick henhy. 133 

Mr. Henry was very desirous to lead out his ar- 
dent troops against that enemy ; but he acted 
under the direction of the committee of safety, 
who, it seems, either from want of confidence in 
his quahfications, or from personal reasons, had 
given their preference to Col. Woodford who, in 
conducting the offensive operations of the colony 
had won the victory at Great Bridge, and per- 
formed other services which soon gave him a 
reputation that threw into the shade all other 
competitors for mihtary fame. 

The disgust which Mr. Henry felt on account 
of what he conceived to be the ill treatment of 
the committee, was soon heightened by the con- 
duct of his subordinate. Col. Woodford, who, in- 
stead of inclosing his dispatches to Col. Henry, 
as his superior officer, sent them directly to the 
committee of safety. This conduct, if not indi- 
rectly encouraged by the committee, was evi- 
dently not displeasing to them. Mr. Henry com- 
plained, and the committee, although evidently 
reluctant to decide so delicate a question, finally 
passed the following resolution : — 

In Committee, December, 1775. — Resolved, 
unanimously, that Colonel Woodford, although 
acting on a separate and detached command, 
ought to correspond w^ith Colonel Henry, and 
make returns to him at proper times of the state 



134 PATRICK HENRY. 1775 

and condition of the forces under his command ; 
and also that he is subject to his orders when the 
convention or the committee of safety is not sit- 
ting ; but that while either of those bodies are sit- 
ting he is to receive his orders from one of them." 

The letter from the chairman of the committee 
to Colonel Woodford, inclosing this resolution, 
clearly indicates the partiality of that body for 
the subordinate, and their willingness to favor 
him in prejudice to the superior claims of Col. 
Henry. It does more — it depreciates Mr. Hen- 
ry's military talents in such a way as clearly to 
exhibit the hostility which existed against him 
in the committee, and which appears to have 
been founded on something else besides his want 
of good conduct as an officer. After having 
stated that a general officer would soon be cho- 
sen by Congress, it intimates that the committee 
will not favor the promotion of Mr. Henry to 
that station, and goes on to say that " the un- 
lucky step of calling that gentleman from our 
councils, where he was useful, into the field, in 
an important station, the duties of which, in the 
nature of things, he must be an entire stranger 
to, has given him much uneasiness." 

Mr. Henry w^as satisfied that there was an un- 
der current working against him, but he forbore 
to act decidedly in the matter until it should ful- 



Age 39. Patrick henry. 135 

ly exhibit itself to view. He was not long 
kept in suspense. Other humiliations awaited 
him. Soon after the affair of the Great Bridge, 
Colonel Woodford was joined by Colonel How, 
of North Carolina, who, by the consent of the 
former, took the command and marched their 
united forces into Norfolk, communicating con- 
tinually with the committee of safety and not 
with Colonel Henry. This, of itself, would not 
have been endured by a man of Colonel Henry's 
spirit, but it was soon followed by another 
marked reflection, which left him no alternative 
but to resign. 

The convention had raised six additional reg- 
iments, a-nd requested Congress to take all the 
Virginia troops under its direction and pay ; but 
that body resolved to take only the six new reg- 
iments. There can be but little doubt that this 
procedure was at" the suggestion of the commit- 
tee of safety, with the direct view of preventing 
the promotion of Colonel Henry. The conven- 
tion, hovever, interfered, and suggested to Con- 
gress that if they wished to take only six regi- 
ments, the two oldest should be among the 
number. This course was accordingly adopted, 
but instead of commissioning Mr. Henry as a 
Brigadier General, they passed him over and be- 
stowed that honor upon Colonels How and Lewis 



136 PATRICK HENRY. 1776 

Axcer so marked a reflection on his military 
competency Mr. Henry of course declined the 
commission of colonel which Congress had 
bestowed upon him, and returned that which he 
held from the state. His resignation produced a 
great eifervescence in the camp, and might have 
been productive of serious consequences but for 
his own patriotic efforts to throw oil on the 
troubled waters. The w^hole regiment went into 
deep mourning, and, assembling under arms, 
waited on Mr. Henry at his lodgings and address- 
sed him in the following words : — 

" To Patrick Henry, Jun. — Deeply impressed 
with a grateful sense of the obligations we lie 
under to you, for the polite, humane and tender 
treatment manifested to us throughout the whole 
of your conduct, while we had the honor of being 
under your command, permit us to offer you our 
sincere thanks, as the only tribute we have it in 
our power to pay to your real merits. Notwith- 
standing your withdrawing yourself from the 
service fills us with the most poignant sorrow, as 
it at once deprives us of our father and general ; 
yet as gentlemen, we are compelled to applaud 
your spirited resentment to the most glaring in- 
dignity. May your merit shine as conspicuous 
to the world in general as it hath done to us, 
and may Heaven shower its choicest blessings 
upon you." 



Age 39. Patrick henry. 137 

To this warm sympathy and affectionate re- 
gard Mr. Henry returned the following answer : 

" Gentlemen : I am exceedingly obliged to 
you for your approbation of my conduct. Your 
address does me the highest honor. This kind 
testimony of your regard to me would have been 
an ample reward for services much greater than 
those / have had it in iny 'power to perform. I 
return you, and each of you, gentlemen, my best 
acknowledgements for the spirit, alacrity and 
zeal you have constantly shown in your several 
stations. I am unhappy to part with you. I 
leave the service, but I leave my heart with you. 
May God bless you, and give you success and 
safety, and make you the glorious instruments of 
saving our country." 

" After the officers had received Colonel Hen- 
ry's kind answer to their address," says one of 
the Virginia papers, " they insisted upon his di- 
ning with them at the Raleigh tavern before his 
departure, and after dinner a number of them pro- 
posed escorting him out of town, but were pre- 
vented in their resolution by some uneasiness 
getting among the soldiery, who assembled in a 
tumultuous manner and demanded their dis- 
charge ; declaring their unwillingness to serve 
under any other commander : upon which Col. 
Henry found it necessary to stav a night longer 
t2 



138 PATRICK HENRY. 1776 

m town, which he spent in visiting the several 
barracks, and used every argument in his power 
with the soldiery, to lay aside their imprudent 
resolution, and to continue in the service which 
he had quitted from motives in which his honor 
alone was concerned ; and that, although he was 
prevented from serving his country in a military 
capacity, yet his utmost abilities should be ex- 
erted for the real interests of the united colonies, 
for the support of the glorious cause in which 
they were engaged." 

The efforts of Col. Henry were successful, 
and the quiet and content of the camp were re- 
stored. " We have now the pleasure," says the 
paper already quoted, " to assure the public that 
those brave fellows are pretty well reconciled, and 
will spend the last drop of their blood in their 
country's defence." But these marks of affec- 
tion and respect were not confined to the camp 
at Williamsburgh alone ; they pervaded the whole 
army, aiid broke out as well in Colonel Wood- 
ford's command, as in that under the more imme- 
diate eye of the commander-in-chief. The fol- 
lowing address from this portion of the army, 
signed by upwards of ninety officers, will suffi- 
ciently exemplify this fact. It was published on 
the 22d of March, 1776 :— 

" Sir : — Deeply concerned for the good of our 



Age 39. Patrick henry. 139 

country, we sincerely lament the unhappy ne- 
cessity of your resignation, and with all the 
warmth of affection assure you that, whatever 
may have given rise to the indignity lately 
offered to you, we join with the general voice of 
the people, and think it our duty to make this 
public declaration of our high respect for your 
distinguished merit. To your vigilance and 
judgment as a senator this united continent 
bears ample testimony ; while she presents her 
steady opposition to those destructive ministerial 
measures which your eloquence first pointed out 
and taught to resent, and your resolution led for- 
ward to resist. To your extensive popularity the 
service is also greatly indebted for the expedition 
with which the troops were raised ; and, while 
they were continued under your command, the 
firmness, candor and politeness which formed the 
complexion of your conduct towards them ob- 
tained the signal approbation of the wise and 
virtuous, and will leave upon our minds the most 
grateful impression. 

" Although retired from the immediate con- 
cerns of war, we solicit the continuance of your 
kindly attention. We know your attachment to 
the best of causes ; we have the fullest confi- 
dence in your abilities and in the rectitude of 
your views ; and however willing the envious 



140 PATRICK HENRY. 1776 

may be to undermine an established reputation, 
we trust the day will come when justice shall 
prevail, and thereby secure you an honorable 
and happy return to the glorious employment of 
conducting our councils, and hazarding your life 
in the defence of your country. With the most 
grateful sentiments of regard and esteem, we are, 
sir, very respectfully, your most obliged and 
obedient humble servants." 

From a number of articles which subsequently 
appeared in the public prints, it is sufficiently 
clear that the envious persons who are supposed 
in this address to be willing to undermine Col. 
Henry's established reputation, referred either to 
the committee of safety or some of its prominent 
members. But whether the line of conduct pur- 
sued by the committee towards Col. Henry arose 
from envy or an honest distrust of his quahfica- 
tions, does not so readily appear. It would 
seem, however, that the officers had some 
grounds for their co-nclusion, and that Mr. Hen- 
ry's overwhelming popularity excited jealousies 
which had more or less to do with the recom 
mendations an-d course of the committee. 

It is impossible at this time to say with certain- 
ty what were Mr. Henry's qualifications as a mil 
itary commander. We are disposed to think tha 
he had, in some measure, the personal courage 



Age 39. Patrick iienry. 141 

boldness, presence of mind, rapidity of action 
and combination which so largely enter into the 
•character of the military chiefta^in, but that he 
wanted the patient endurance, energy and steady 
perseverance which are also absolutely necessary 
to make up the ch^'racter of a great warrior. 
He would probably have headed a single enter- 
prize, requiring immediate action, with ability 
and success, but would have failed in conducting 
a campaign or in directing the movements of a 
large army. Washington certainly distrusted 
his military qualities, and his judgment will go 
far to justify the conduct of the committee of 
safety, who probably wanted confidence in his 
industry and perseverance. On the whole, it is 
perhaps fortunate for his fame that he did not 
devote his life to military pursuits. In the cab- 
inet he was eminently useful. In the field he 
would also have been useful, but we apprehend 
that he w^ould have found the path to fame more 
difficult and less suited to his extraordinary 
genius. 



CHAPTER X. 

Meeting of the Convention — Its action in relation to forming 
a new government — Mr. Henry elected Govtrnor — His reply- 
to the House on being informed of his election— Congratu- 
lations and answers — The new government fully organized. 

Since the flight of Lord Dunmore, the coiony 
of Virginia had been almost without a govern- 
ment, and the royal authority, especially, was 
felt and respected no longer. The king had de- 
clared from his throne that America must be re- 
duced by force to submission, and the people 
had declared with equal firmness their determi- 
nation never to yield their necks to the yoke of 
oppression. The position of each was now 
clearly defined ; both parties had resorted to 
arms, and the decision was left to the Grod of 
battles. The war had, indeed, assumed a settled 
form, and the lingering hope of a reconciliation 



Age 39. Patrick henry. 143 

which some had not ceased to entertain, was ev- 
ery day becoming fainter and fainter. 

Under these circumstances, the action of the 
convention Avhich was about to assemble, was 
looked to with great anxiety. This body was 
the sole substitute for that government which 
had been withdrawn; and, although its acts 
were regarded with nearly the same respect as 
those of a regular legislative assembly, yet as 
they did not possess the forms of law, and were 
rather advisatory than mandatory, their observ- 
ance could not be enforced with the same certain- 
ty, and much inconvenience had been experienced 
in consequence. The convention was a tempora- 
ry expedient, adopted to supply the deficiency of 
the legislative assembly dissolved at the depart- 
ure of Dunmore, and with the hope that the 
colony would soon be reconciled with her sove- 
•reign and the former state of things restored. 

But in proportion as it became more and more 
certain that no reconciliation could ever take 
place, the necessity of a regular government be- 
came apparent, and in electing members to the 
convention this subject w^as brought before the 
people, and in many instances written instruc- 
tions were given to the members, not only to 
organize a government, but also to exert 
their "utmost ability in the next convention, 



144 PATRICK HENRY. 1776 

.owards dissolving the connexion between Amer- 
ica and Great Britain, totally, finally and ir- 
revocably." 

We repeat, then, that the convention, assern- 
bhng under such circumstances, possessed more 
than its usual importance. Mr. Henry, having 
resigned his place in the army, returned to 
Hanover, was immediately elected a member, 
and took his departure again for Williamsburgh. 
The convention met on the 6th of May, and Mr. 
Pendleton was chosen president. On taking the 
chair he called the attention of the members 
with great solemnity to the important subjects 
which they had met to consider. " We are 
now," said he, " met in general convention, ac- 
cording to the ordinance for our election, at a 
time truly critical, when subjects of the most 
important and interesting nature require our se- 
rious attention. The administration of justice, 
and almost all the powers of government, have 
now been suspended for near two years. It will 
become us to reflect whether we can longer sus- 
tain the great struggle we are making in this 
situation." He then proceeded to call attention 
to those other specific subjects requiring the de- 
liberation of the convention, and concluded by 
exhorting the members to calmness, unanimity 
and diligence. 



Ac5l36. PATRICK HENRY. 145 

On the 15th of May, Mr. Gary, from the com 
\ittee of the whole on the state of the colony^ 
reported a preamble and resolutions on the sub- 
ject of separating from Great Britain and organ- 
izing a new government. Th-e resolutions were 
in the following words : — 

" Resolved, That the delegates appointed 
to represent this colony in general Congress, 
be instructed to propose to that respectable 

body, to DECLARE THE UNITFD COLONIES FREE 
AND INDEPENDENT STATES, absolvcd frOm all 

allegiance to, or dependence upon the crown or 
parliament of Great Britain ; and that they give 
the assent of this colony to such declaration, and 
to whatever measures may be thought proper 
and neces-sary by the Congress for forming for- 
eign alliances, and a confederation of the col- 
onies, at such time, and in the manner, as to 
them shall seem best. Provided, that the power 
of forming a government for, and the regulation 
of, the internal concerns of each colony, be left 
to the respective colonial legislatures. 

Resolved, That a committee be appointed 
to prepare a declaration of rights, and such 
a plan of government as w^ill be most likely 
to maintain peace and order in this colony, 
and secure substantial and equal liberty to the 
people." 



146 PATRICK HENRY. 1776 

These resolutions, contemplating a total 
separation of the colonies from the British 
crown, were not only unanimously passed 
by the convention, but they were also hailed 
by the populace with acclamations of joy. The 
soldiers were paraded and reviewed by Gen. 
Lew^is, attended by the committee of safety, the 
members of the convention, and a large body oi 
citizens; the resolutions were then read aloud 
to them while thus assembled under arm-s ; a 
number of toasts, prepared for the occasion, were 
given accompanied by the discharge of artillery ; 
and the Union Flag* of the " American States" 
was run up over the capitol where, to use the 
words of a Virginia paper of that time, it waved 
in " glorious triumph during the whole day." 
In the convention a committee was immediately 
appointed to prepare the papers contemplated 
by the last resolution, and on the 12th of June 
the declaration of rights, understood to be 
from the pen of Mr. Jefferson, was reported to 
the House and adopted, and on the 29th, was 



* What this flag was, is not now certainly known. It is 
probable, however, that it was the same as that used on some 
other similar occasions, the device of which was a pine tree 
with a rattle snake coiled at its root about to strike, with the 
motto, *' don't tread on me." The stripes and stars were 
adopted after the Declaration of Independence was made. 



Age 40. Patrick henry. 147 

followed by a plan of government proposed by 
Mr. George Mason, both of which were adopted 
without a dissenting voice.* 

Under this new form of government the con- 
vention proceeded, on Monday the first of July, 
1776, to elect the first republican governor oi 
Virorinia, and on countin:^ the votes it was found 



* The committee appomted to p.rcpare the declaration ot 
rights and a plan of government consisted of Archibald Gary, 
Meriweather Smith, Mr. Mercer, Henry Lee, Mr. Treasurer, 
Mr. Henry, Mr. Dandridge, Mr. Gilmer, Mr. Bland, Mr. 
Digges, Mr. Carrington, Thomas Ludwell Lee, Mr. Cabell, Mr. 
Jones, Mr. Blair, Mr. Fleming, Mr. Tazewell, Richard Cary, 
Mr. Bullitt, Mr. Watts, Mr. Banister, Mr. Page, Mr. Starke, 
David Mason, Mr. Adams, Mr. Reid and Thomas Lewis, to 
whom were afterwards added Mr. Madison, Mr. Rutherford, 
Mr. Watkins, George Mason, Mr. Harvie, Mr. Curie; and Mr. 
Holt. Mr. Jefferson was not on the committee, and is known 
to have been absent in Con-gress. But it is clear, nevertheless, 
that the recital of wrongs prefixed to tlie constitution of Vir- 
ginia and that contained in the Declaration of Independence 
are from the same pen, and that Mr. Jefferson was the author 
of both. There is on tile in the archives of Virginia, an origi- 
nal, rough draft of a constitution for that state in the handwri- 
ting of Mr. Jefferson, v.hich contains this very preamble, and 
which was forwarded from Philadelphia to Mr. Wythe, to be 
submitted to the committee of the House of Delegates. The 
body of tlie Virginia c;;ustitution is taken principally from a 
plan proposed by Mr. George Mason, and was adopted before 
Mr. Jefferson's draft arrived, but his preamble was afibced to 
the ^instrument, and snmo modifications contained in his plan 
were also incorporated in 'he body of the constitution. — [See 
Wilt's Life of Patrick iiriny. 



148 PATRI-CK HENRY. 1776 

that tkis distinguished honor had been conferred 
on Mr. Henry. The vote stood thus : — 
For Patrick Henry, Esq., 60. 
" Thomas Nelson, Esq. 45. 
. " John Page, Esq. 1. 

Whereupon a motion was passed declaring 
Mr. Henry to be " governor of this common 
wealth until the end of the succeeding session ot 
assembly after the last of March next." Messrs 
Mason, Henry Lee, Digges, Blair and Dandridge 
were appointed a committee to wait on him and 
notify him of his election, who, on the same day, 
laid before the House the following reply : — 

" Gentlemen, — The vote of this day, appoint- 
ing me governor of the commonwealth, has been 
notified to me in the most polite and obliging 
manner, by George Mason, Henry Lee, Dudley 
Digges, John Blair, and Bartholomew Dan- 
dridge, Esquires. A sense of the high and un- 
merited honor conferred upon me by the con- 
vention, fills my heart with gratitude which I 
trust my whole life will manifest. I take this 
earhest opportunity to express my thanks 
which I wish to convey to you, gentlemen, in 
the strongest terms of acknowledgement. 

" When I reflect that the tyranny of the 
British king and parliament hath kindled a for- 
midable war, now raging throughout this wide 



Age 40. Patrick henry. 149 

extended continent, and in the operations ol 
which this colony must bear so great a part; 
that, from the events of this war, the lasting 
happiness or misery of so great a proportion of 
the human species will fmally result ; that in 
order to preserve this commonwealth from anar- 
chy and its attendant ruin, and to give vigor to 
our councils and effect to all our measures, gov- 
ernment hath been necessarily assumed and new 
modelled ; that it is exposed to numberless haz- 
ards and perils in its infantine state ; that it can 
never attain to maturity or ripen into firmness 
unless it is guarded by an affectionate assiduity 
and managed by great abilities; I lament my 
want of talents ; I feel my mind filled with anx- 
iety and uneasiness to find myself so unequal to 
the duties of that important station to which I 
am called by the favor of my fellow citizens at 
this truly critical conjuncture. 

" The errors of my conduct shall be atoned 
for so far as I am able, by unwearied endeavors 
to secure the freedom and happiness of our 
common country. I shall enter upon the duties 
of my oflSce whenever you, gentlemen, shall be 
pleased to direct, relying upon the known wisdom 
and virtue of your honorable House to supply 
my defects, and to give permanency and success 
to that system of government which you have 
n2 



150 PATRICK HENRY. 1776 

formed, and which is so wisely calculated to se- 
cure equal liberty and advance human happiness. 
" I have the honor to be, gentlemen, 

" Your most ob't. and very humble serv't., 
" P. Henry, JriN." 

No sooner was it understood that Mr. Henry 
w^as elected to the most dignified and important 
office in the gift of the commonwealth, than he 
was flooded widi a multitude of congratulations 
from his numerous friends : among them was the 
following address from the two regiments of 
soldiers who had been so recently under his com- 
mand. — 

" May it please your excellency : — Permit us, 
with the sincerest sentiments of respect and joy, 
to congratulate your excellency upon your unso- 
licited promotion to the highest honors a grateful 
people can bestow. Uninfluenced by private 
ambition ; regardless of sordid interest ; you have 
uniformly pursued the general good of your 
country, and have taught the world that an in- 
genuous love of the rights of mankind, an inflex- 
able resolution, and a steady perseverance in the 
practice of every private and public virtue lead 
directly to preferment, and give the best title to 
the honors of our nncorrupted and vigorous 
state. 



Age 40. Patrick henry. 151 

" Once happy under your military command, 
We hope for more extensive blessings from your 
civil administration. Intrusted, as your excellen- 
cy is, in some measure, v^ith the support of a 
young empire, our hearts are wiUing and our 
arms ready, to maintain your authority as chief 
magistrate ; happy that we have lived to see 
the day when freedom and equal rights, estab- 
lished by the voice of the people, shall prevail 
through the land. We are, may it please your 
excellency, your excellency's most devoted and 
most obedient servants." 

This address must have been peculiarly grati- 
fying to Mr. Henry after the deep wound which 
his feelings had received in consequence of the 
reflections cast upon his military talents by the 
course of the committee of safety. He seems to 
have been touched by such warm expressions of 
regard, and in his reply he has poured forth 
some of that native eloquence which was always 
sure to gush from the full fountain of his heart 
when it was attuned to melod}- by the hand of 
kindness and affection. 

" Your address," he says, " does me the high- 
est honor. Be pleased to accept ray most cor- 
dial thanks for your favorable and kind senti- 
ments of my principles and conduct. The high 
appointment to which my fellow citizens have 



152 PATRICK HENRY. 1776 

called me, was, indeed, unmerited, unsolicited. 
I am, therefore, under increased obligations to 
promote the safety, dignaty and happiness of the 
commonv/ealth. 

" While the civil powers are employed in es- 
tablishing a system of government, liberal, equi- 
table, in every part of v^^hich the genius of equal 
liberty breathes her blessed influence, to you is 
assigned the glorious task of saving, by your 
valor, all that is dear to mankind. Go on, gen- 
tlemen, to finish the great work you have so 
nobly and successfully begun. Convince the 
tyrants again that they shall bleed ; that Ameri- 
ca will bleed to the last drop, ere their wicked 
schemes find success. 

" The remembrance of my former conrtexion 
with you shall ever be dear to me. I honor 
your profession. I revere that patriotic virtue 
which, in your conduct, hath produced cheerful 
obedience, exemplary courage, and contempt of 
hardship and danger. Be assured, gentlemen, I 
shall feel the highest pleasure in embracing ev- 
ery opportunity to contribute to your happiness 
and welfare, and I trust the day will come when 
I shall make one of those that will hail you 
among the triumphant deliverers of America." 

The palace, as the governor's house was still 
called, was immediately prepared for the recep- 



AoK 40. PATRICK HENRY. ] 53 

tion of the republican executive ; a thousand 
pounds were expended in furnishing it ; and on 
the fifth of July the various officers were sworn 
and the new government went into operation 
Mr. Henry w^as now commander-in-chief of all 
the military forces of Virginia by the constitu- 
tional provisions of the government, but Lord 
Dunmore, having been driven from his quarters at 
Gwinn's Island, had left the country to return to 
it no more, and for a considerable season the state, 
under the new administration, enjoyed, notwith- 
standing the hostile position of the country, 
nearly all the quiet of former years. 



CHAPTER XL 

Duties of the Governor — Mr. Henry and the Dictatorship- 
Anonymous letter derogatory to Gen. Washington— Wash- 
ington replies— Conway's apology to Gen. Washington- 
Gen. Gates— Incident connected with Conway's cabal. 

The duties of a governor during the eventful 
period upon which the colonies had now entered, 
were highly important and responsible, although 
not of a character to wreathe the brow of the 
patriot with laurels. They had commenced the 
great work of revolution ; they had fully in- 
volved themselves in a war with the most pow- 
erful of nations ; they were young, feeble, with- 
out money, without an army, or even a settled 
government ; they were connected in their na- 
tional capacity by the loose bonds of a confede- 
ration ; and they were beset with enemies, not 
only from without, but by those which had beep 



Age 40. Patrick henry. ISf 

nurtured in their own bosom, and who, like th 
viper in the fable, waited only th-e favorable mo 
ment to strike their poisonous fangs into tha 
social polity which was struggling to warm them 
into liberty and life. 

The governor stood at the head of each oi 
these separate commonwealths, and was the ear 
into which the complaints from every quarter 
were poured. It devolved on him to lay before 
the legislative assembly plans for the public 
safety ; to inspire ardor in the public cause ; to 
obtain supplies and tf oops for the federal army ; 
to see that the militia were disciplined and ready 
for service; to watch the movements of the 
tories, who were plotting treason against the 
state; and to. guard the public purse against the 
rapacity of the extortioner who, like the unsat- 
isfied leech, was ready to suck out the kist drop 
from the veins of the state. 

It -may be possible for a man of moderate 
abilities, of a visionary mind, or even of unsound 
principles, to sustain himself with some degree 
of credit in an important public station, when 
the waves of the politi-cal ocean are unruffled 
and the vessel of state glides forward under the 
systematic efforts of a disciplined crew, along 
the track defined by an old and faithful chart ; 
but when the elements are in commotion ; when 



156 PATRICK HENRY. '"^TG 

as in the case of Columbus, the coinpass veers 
from the pole and there is no chart to define the 
way, then vulgar expedients will no longer avail, 
and discernment, genius, talent are required to 
nold the helm of state and conduct the vessel 
?afely through the surrounding dangers. 

It is not for i^ xo say that the administration of 
Mr. Henry was faultless, nor even superior to 
that of several of the other states. It is suf- 
ficient that, under these trying circumstances, it 
commanded the approbation of the people of 
Virginia ; that he arose during its continuance 
to a still loftier position ; that, after having been 
thrice elected, there was a general disposition to 
retain him in office ; that the little opposition he 
met with at first, yielded before his growing 
popularity ; and that he was twice elected by the 
unanimous vote of the House. 

After the Battle of Long Island, and the re- 
treat of Washington into New Jersey, the de- 
spondency of the country reached its lowest 
point of depression, and the legislature of Vir- 
gmia appears to have yielded to the general feel- 
mg of dismay. Under the influence of this 
reeling the extraordinary measure of investing 
Ihe governor with dictatorial powers was much 
'alked of and the circumstance has sometimes 
jeen urged as an evidence of Mr. Henry's ambi- 



Age 41. Patrick henry. 157 

tion. His whole life is, howes/er, a practical 
illustration of the falsity of this position, and the 
fact, fairly construed, would go rather to show 
how unlimited was the confidence reposed in 
him by the people of Virginia, than to convict 
him of any unworthy thirst for power. 

It was during the disasters of this memorable 
year when every heart seemed to falter ; when 
a general gloom overspread the country, and 
the great Washington alone " remained erect, 
and surveyed with god-like composure the storm 
that raged around him," now flying before his 
powerful foe, and now turning upon his pursuers 
and wrenching the victory from their grasp, 
that men began to whisper insinuations against 
the commandei-in-chief, and to undermine his 
spotless reputation. The splendid victory ob- 
tained over B-urgoyne by the northern army 
under Gen. Gates in the fall of 1777, gave a 
bolder character to these complaints, which final 
ly ended in what is commonly known as the 
" Conway Cabal." Tlie p^ot is said to have 
been an extensive one, embracing many officers 
of the army and some prominent members oi 
Congress, and its object was the removal oi 
Gen. Washington and the substitution of Gen. 
Gates in his place. 

An insidious attempt was made to gain Gov 



158 PATRICK HENRY 1777 

Henry over to the interests of this faction 
which, however, as the reader will doubtless 
suppose, proved altogether unavailing. Mr. 
Henry had seen too much of Washington to 
have his faith in him shaken by a few reverses. 
He had declared, after meeting the most distin- 
guished men of the colonies in the first Congress, 
that " for solid information and sound judgment, 
Col. Washington was unquesti-onably the great- 
est man on that floor," and subsequent events 
had afforded abundant confirmation of his opin- 
ion. He had witnessed his calm confidence in 
the midst of disaster ; the unwavering and deter- 
mined spirit breathed in his letters ; his masterly 
retreat through Westchester and the Jerseys ; 
his brilliant strokes of generalship at Trenton 
and Princeton ; his deep devotion to the cause of 
liberty and of man ; and he revered him, not 
only as a general fitted to graj^ple with the des- 
perate circumstances by which he was surround- 
ed, but as the purest of patriots and the best of 
men. 

Gen. Washington had expressed a regret that 
Mr. Henry was ever called from the councils of 
the nation into the field, and it is possible that 
rumors to this effect m-ay have reached the gov- 
ernor, and that he attributed the failure of his pro- 
motion in the army to the general's influence. 



Age 41. Patrick henry. 159 

We have no evidence, however, that such was 
the case, and it is abundantly clear that Mr. Hen- 
ry never entertained for a moment any feelings 
of serious hostility against the commander-in- 
chief. But no one, we think, wo-uld have ven- 
tured to make advances of the nature which w^e 
have suggested, without supposing Mr. Henry's 
feelings more or less chafed by some act on the 
part of General Washington, because his admi- 
ration of Washington's character was well 
known. 

The ingenious manner in which Mr. Henry 
was approached, ar.d the caution used by the 
writer in suppressing his name and in enjoin- 
ing the utmost secrecy, show that he felt by no 
means sure of Mr. Henry's concurrence, while 
at the same time he had some reason to expect 
it. How much he was mistaken will appear by 
the correspo-ndence. The following is the 
anonymous letter, breaking this subject to Mr. 
Henry : — 

" Yorktowa, Jan. 12, 1778.— -Dear Sir :— The 
common danger of our country first brought you 
and me together. I recollect with pleasure the 
influence of your conversation and eloquence 
upon the opinions of this country in the beginning 
of the present controversy. You first taught us 
to shake oil our idolatrous attachment to royalty^ 



160 PATRICK HENRY, 1778 

and to oppose its encroachments upon our liber- 
ties with our very hves. By these means you 
saved us from ruin. The Independence of Ame- 
rica is the offspring of that hberal spirit of think- 
ing and acting which followed the destruction of 
the sceptres of kings and the mighty pjower of 
Great Britain. 

" B-ut, sir, we have only passed the Red Sea. 
A dreary wilderness is still before us, and unless 
a Moses or a Josliua are raised up in our behalf, 
we must perish before we reach the promised 
land. We have nothing to fear from our ene- 
mies on the w^ay. General Howe, it is true, has 
taken Philadelphia, but he has only changed his 
prison. His dominions are bounded c« all 
sides by his o-ut-sentries. America can only be 
undone by herself. She looks up to her coun- 
cils and arms for protection ; but alas ! what are 
they 1 Her representation in Congi^ess, dwindled 
to only twenty-one members ; her Adams, her 
Vv^ilson, her Henry are no more among them. 
Her councils weak, and partial remedies con- 
stantly applied for universal diseases. Her 
army, what is it ? A major general belonging 
to it, called it in my hearing, a few days ago, a 
moh. Discipline unknown or wholly neglected. 
The quarter-master's and commissary's depart- 
ments filled with idleness, ignorance and pecula- 



Age 41. Patrick henry. 161 

lion ; our hospitals crowded with six thousand 
sick, but half provided with necessaries or accom- 
modations, and more dying in them in one 
month than perished in the field during the 
whole of the last campaign ; the monej depreci- 
ating without any effectual measures being taken 
to raise it -, the country distracted with the Don 
Quixote attempts to regulate the price of provis- 
ions ; an artificial famine created by it, a real 
one dreaded from it; the spirit of the people 
failing through a more intimate acquaintance 
with the causes of our misfortunes ; many sub- 
mitting daily to General Howe, and more wish- 
ing to do it, only to avoid the calamities which 
threaten our country. But is our case desperate ? 
By no means. We have wisdom, virtue, and 
strenp^th enough to save us if they could be called 
into action. The northern army has show^n us 
what Americans are capable of doing with a gene- 
ral at their head. The spirit of the southern army 
is no way inferior to the spirit of the northern. 
A Gates, a Lee, or a Conway, would in a few 
weeks render them an irresistable body of men. 
The last of the above officers has accepted of the 
new office of inspector general of our army, in 
order to reform abuses ; but the remedy is only a 
palliative one. In one of his letters to a friend 
De says, ' a great and good God hath decreed 



162 PATRICK HENRY. 1778 

America to be free, or the [general] and weak 
counsellors would have ruined her long ago.' 
You may rest assured of each of the facts related 
in this letter. The author of it is one of your 
Philadelphia friends. A hint of his name, ii 
found out by the hand writing, must not be men- 
tioned to your most intimate friend. Even the 
letter must be thrown into the fire. But some 
of its contents ought to be made public, in ordei 
to awaken, enlighten and alarm our country. 1 
rely upon your prudence, and am, dear sir, with 
my usual attachment to you and to our beloved 
independence, yours sincerely." 

On receiving this extraordinary communica 
tion Mr. Henry determined at once to inclose it 
to General Washington. This course seemed to 
be required both by his duty to his country and 
his friendship for the general. It was apparent- 
ly from a respectable source, and if so, was 
fraught with the deepest danger as it struck di- 
rectly at that confidence hitherto reposed in the 
commander-in-chief, and which was absolutely 
necessary to maintain the stand which the st?ctes 
had taken. Mr. Henry could not but see that 
hitherto it had been chiefly the strong arm ol 
Washington which had sustained the contest, and 
he felt that it would be the de&truclion of the 
cause to have that arm broken. He therefore 



Age 41. Patrick henry. 163 

inclosed this insinuating attack in the following 
frank and manly letter and sent it to him by ex 
press : — 

" Williamsburgh, 20th Feb. 1778.— Dear Sir: 
You will no doubt be sm-prised at seeing the in- 
closed letter, in which the encomiums bestowed 
on me are as undeserved as the censures aimed 
at you are unjust. I am sorry there should be 
one man who counts himself my friend, who is 
not yours 

" Perhaps I give you needless trouble in hand- 
ing you this paper. The WTiter of it may be too 
insignificant to deserve any notice. If I knew 
this to be the case I should not have intruded on 
your time, which is so precious. But there may 
possibly be some scheme or party forming to your 
prejudice. The inclosed leads to such a suspi- 
cion. Believe me, sir, I have too high a sense ot 
the obligations America has to you, to abet or 
countenance so unworthy a proceeding. The 
most exalted merit has ever been found to at- 
tract envy. But I please myself with the hope 
that the same fortitude and greatness of mind 
which have hitherto braved all the difficulties and 
dangers inseparable from your station, will 
rise superior to every attempt- of the envious 
partizan. 

" I really cannot tell who is the writer of this 



164 PATRICK HENRY 1778 

etter, which not a Kttle perplexes me. The 
land writing is altogether strange to me 

* To give you the trouble of this gives me 
pain. It would suit my inclination better to 
give you some assistance in the great business of 
the war, but I w^ill not conceal any thing from 
you by which you may be ati'ected, for I really 
think your personal welfare and the happiness of 
America are intimately connected. I beg you 
will be assured of that high regard and esteem 
with which 1 ever am, dear sir, your aifectionate 
friend and very humble servant." 

The plot shadowed forth in this anonymous 
communication for undermining the reputation 
of the commander-in-chief was soon followed by- 
rumors which seemed to confirm its truth, and 
which gave Mr, Henry so much anxiety that, 
without waiting an answer to his first note he 
again addressed Gen. Washington on the sub- 
iect. His letter is dated on the 5th of March, 
and is full of the same generous sympathy. 
" While you." he says, " face the armed ene- 
mies of our liberty in the field, and by the favor 
of God have been kept unhurt, I trust your coun- 
try will never harbor in her bosom the miscreant 
who would ruin her best supporter. I wish not 
to flatter ; but when arts, unworthy honest men, 
are used to defame and tratluce you, I think it 



Age 41. Patrick henry. W 

not amiss, but a duty, to assure you of that esti ■ 
mation in which the pubhc hold you. Not tha; 
I think any testimony I can bear is necessary for 
your support or private satisfaction, for a bare 
recollection of what is passed must give you 
sufficient pleasure in every circumstance of life. 
But I cannot help assuring you, on this occasion, 
of the high sense of gratitude which all ranks of 
men in this, your native country, bear to you. 
It w^ill give me sincere pleasure to manifest my 
regards and render my best services to you or 
yours. I do not like to make a parade of these, 
things, and I know you are not fond of it ; how^- 
ever, I hope the occasion wdll plead my excuse 
Wishing you all possible felicity, I am, dear sir, 
your ever affectionate friend and very humble 
servant." 

Such sentiments addressed to Washington 
never w^ ere suffered to pass unnoticed ; and the 
kindness of Mr. Henry on this occasion was 
often alluded to in the General's correspondence. 
Mr. Henry soon received the following interest- 
ing replies, written on consecutive days : — 

" Valley Forge, 21th March, 177S.— Dear 
Sir : — About eight days ago I w^as honored with 
your favor of the 20th ultimo. Your friendship 
sir, in transmitting to me the anonymous lettei 
you had received, lays me under the mast grate- 



166 PATRICK HENRY. 1778 

ful obligations, and if my acknowledgements can 
be due for any thing n.ore, it is for the polite 
and delicate tern^s in which you have been 
pleased to communicate the matter. 

" I have ever been lii-ppy in supposing that 1 
had a place in your esteem, and the proof you 
have afforded on this occasion makes me pecul- 
iarly so. The favorable light in which you hold 
me is truly flattering; but 1 should feel much 
regret if I thought the happiness of America so 
intimately connected vvith my personal welfare, 
as you so obligingly seem to consider it. All 
I can say is, that she has ever had, and I trust 
she ever will have, my honest exertions to pro- 
mote her interests. 1 cannot hope that my ser- 
vices have been the best ; but my heart tells me 
they have been the best that I could render. 

" That I may have erred in using the means 
in my power for accomplishing the objects of the 
arduous and exalted station with which I am 
honored I cannot doubt ; nor do I wish my con- 
duct to be exempted from reprehension farther 
than it may deserve. En or is the portion of 
humanity, and to censure it, whether it be com- 
mitted by this or that pi«blic character, is the 
prerogative of freemen. However, being inti- 
mately acquainted with the man I conceive to 
be the author of the letter transmitted, and hav- 



I 



A.GE 41. PATRICK HENRY. 167 

ing always received from him tlkj strongest pro 
fessions of attachment and regard, I am con- 
strained to consider him as not possessing, at 
least, a great degree of candor and sincerity, 
though his views in addressing you should have 
been the result of conviction, and foun-ded in mo- 
tives of public good. This is not the only se- 
cret, insidious attempt that has been made to 
wound my reputation. There have been others 
equally base, cruel and ungenerous, because 
conducted with as little frankness, and proceed- 
ing from views, perhaps, as personally inter- 
ested. I am, dear sir, Vv'ith great esteem and 
regard, your much obliged friend, &c." 

" Camp, 2Sth March, 1778.— Dear Sir :— 
Just as I was about to close my letter of yester- 
day, your favor of the 5th instant came to hand. 
I can only thank you again, in the language ot 
the most undissembled gratitude for your friend- 
ship ; and assure you that the indulgent disposi- 
tion which Virginia, in particular, and the states 
in general entertain towards me, gives me the 
most sensible pleasure. The approbation of my 
country is what I wish ; and, as far as my abili- 
ties and opportunities will permit, I hope I shall 
endeavor to deserve it. It is the highest reward 
to a feeling mind, and happy are they who so 
conduct themselves as to merit it. 



168 PATRICK HENRY. 1778 

" The anonymous letter with which you were 
pleased to favor me was written by Dr. Rush, so 
far as I can judge from a similitude of hands 
This man has been elaborate and studied in his 
professions of regard for me, and long since the 
letter to you. My caution to avoid any thing 
which could injure the service prevented me 
from communicating, but to a very few of my 
friends, the intrigues of a faction which, I kn ew, 
was formed against me, since it might serve to 
publish our internal dissentions ; but their own 
restless zeal to advance their views has too clearly 
betrayed them, and made concealment on my 
part fruitless. I cannot precisely mark the ex- 
tent of their views, but it appears that General 
Gates was to be exalted on the ruin of my repu- 
tation and influence. This I am authorized to 
say from undeniable facts in my possession ; 
from publications, the evident scope of which 
could not be mistaken, and from private detrac- 
tions industriously circulated. General Mifflin," 
't is commonly supposed, bore the second part in 
the cabal ; and General Conway, I know, was 
a very active and mahgnant partizan ; but I 
have good reasons to believe that their machina- 
tions have recoiled most sensibly upon them- 
selves. With sentiments of great esteem and 
regard, I am, dear sii', your aflectionate, humble 
servant." 



Age 42. Patrick henry. 169 

Gen. Washington was right. The plot, it the 
machinations of a few official persons may be 
dignified with that name, although it looked se- 
rious for a time, ended in the disgrace of all its 
principal agents. Gen. Conway, who is regard- 
ed as its chief instigator, and w^ho had been 
advanced by Congress far beyond his deserts, 
proved to be a restless and mischievous spirit, 
and after having excited various discontents in 
the army, he wrote a rude and insolent letter to 
Congress, in w^hich he intimated a wish to 
resign. This intimation was immediately acted 
on, and his commission accordingly revoked. 
He was greatly chagrined at the intelligence, 
and demanded to be restored to his former rank, 
but all his solicitations and claims were alike 
denied. His obnoxious bearing finally involved 
nim in so many disputes that he became generally 
offensive, and on the 4th of July he w^as w^ound- 
ed, mortally as he supposed, in a duel with Gen. 
Cadwalader. Whilst lying on a sick bed his 
conscience seems to have been faithful to its 
office, and he VvTote a letter of apology to Gen. 
Washington for his conduct, in which he says : 
" My career will soon be over ; therefore justice 
and truth prompt me to declare my last senti- 
ments. You are, in my eyes, the great and 
good man. May you long enjoy the love, ven- 

V 



170 PATRICK HENRY. 177? 

eration and esteem of these states, whose liber- 
ties you have asserted by your virtues." Con- 
trary to his expectations, he recovered ; but he 
could not brook the disgrace into which he had 
fallen, and determined immediately to leaTe the 
country. 

Gen. Gates, for whose benefit this covert 
attack upon the character of Washington was 
supposed to have been made, and who evidently 
gave it an insidious support, although he had 
won such enviable distinction as the commander 
of the northern army, yet, having been appoint- 
ed to the command of the Southern army, lost, in 
a series of disasters, all that he had hitherto 
gained, and was finally deprived of his command. 
He was, hoAvever, afterwards restored, but he 
never recovered his former standing. 

Thei* is an incident connected with this cabal, 
resting on the authority of Col. Pickering which, 
although not immediately connected with the 
subject of this memoir, may very properly find a 
place here. After the battle of Germantown, 
where victory was again wrested from the grasp 
of Washington by the unfortunate occupation of 
an old stone house by the British, and soon after 
these intrigues of Conway and Gates had begun 
to be whispered through the army, and were al- 
ready known to the commander-in-chief, rumors 



Age 42. Patrick henry. 171 

floated from th-e north that the whole army under 
General Biirgoyne had surrendered to General 
Gates, as prisoners of war. 

" Should this prove true, it might naturally 
be supposed that the schemes in favor of Gates 
would be successful, and the ruin of Washington 
inevitable. For some time this vagu-e report 
was unconfirmed; but at length, a messenger 
covered with dust and mud, arrived. Washing 
ton was at head quarters, and Col. Pickering 
was sent out to receive the dispatches. The 
commander-in-chief hastily opened the valice, 
broke the seal of the package, and glanced over 
the contents of the letters. It was the official 
announcement of the first great victory won by 
the arms of the young republic. The hand oj 
Washington trembled ; the color forsook his 
face ; the papers fell to the floor ; his lips 
moved ; the silent tear found its way down his 
care-worn cheek, and with his hands clasped, 
and his eyes raised to heaven, he remained for 
some time in an attitude of thanksgiving for so 
mighty a deliverance. * I then saw,' said Col. 
Pickering, 'how much superior, in the mind oi 
this great man, was the love of his country to all 
selfish feelings.' "* 



Arnold's Life of Wasliiugton. 



CHAPTER Xn. 



Mr. Henry retires from the gubernatorial office — Changes in 
his family relations — Again returned to the House — Gen. 
Gates — Ravages of the enemy — The assembly— A Dictator — 
Mr. Henry advocates a return of the British refugees — 
Extracts from his speech in the House — Opposes restriction 
on Commerce — Jndge Stuart's account of his eloquence — Re- 
elected Governor in 1784 and 1785. 



The Constitution of Virginia, under which Mr. 
Henry administered the State government, pro- 
vided that the Governor should not hold his 
office for more than three consecutive years ; but 
as Mr. Henry had received the appointment for 
his first term from the State Convention and not 
from the Legislature, as ordered by the Constitu- 
tion, many of his friends were of opinion that he 
was eligible for another term and accordingly 
• advocated his re-election. This course was not, 
however, in accordance with his own views, and 
he immediately addressed a letter to the Speaker 
as follows : 



Age 42. Patrick henry. 173 

« Williamsburgh, May 28, 1779.— Sir :-— The 
term for which I had the honor to be elected 
governor by the late assembly, being just about 
to expire, and the constitution, as I think, ma- 
king me ineligible to that office, I take the lib- 
erty to communicate to the assembly, through 
you, sir, my intention to retire in four or five 
days. I have thought it necessary to give this 
notification of my design, in order that the as- 
sembly may have the earliest opportunity of de- 
liberating upon the choice of a successor to me 
in office." 

During the three years of Mr. Henry's admin- 
istration which, although years of excitement 
and alarm, were mostly exempt, so far as Vir- 
ginia was concerned, from the incursions of any 
outward foe, his private relations had undergone 
a considerable change. Mrs. Henry, the part- 
ner of his early struggles and misfortunes, the 
sharer alike of his obscurity and renown, died in 
the year 1775, before he was elected to the gub- 
ernatorial chair. She had borne him six chil- 
dren, and for several years previous to her death 
had been in very feeble health. In the year 
1777 Mr. Henry married a second time, and oa 
retiring from the government sold his farm m 
Hanover county and removed to a new county 
which had been erected during his administra- 
p5> 



174 PATRICK HENRY. 1779 

tion, and in compliment to him had been called 
by his name. In this county he had purchased 
an estate of some eight or ten thousand acres, 
called Leatherwood, and having established him- 
self in his new quarters, returned to the profes- 
sion of the law. His second wife was the 
daughter of Mr. Nathaniel W. Dandridge. 

In the following year, 1780, he was again 
elected to the House, and continued to be one of 
its most prominent and active members. It was 
during the winter session of this year that Gen. 
Gates entered the city of Richmond from his 
southern campaign, drooping under his ill for- 
tune, humiliated and disgraced. His total defeat 
at Camden, and a series of other disasters, had 
not only withered his northern laurels, but left 
South Carolina entirely in the hands of the ene- 
my. Congress had ordered the commander-in- 
chief to institute a court for inquiring into his 
conduct ; had bestowed his command on Gene- 
ral Greene ; and, thus disgraced, he was return- 
ing to his private estate in Virginia. 

It was not in Mr. Henry's nature to remem- 
ber, under these circumstances, the errors and 
faults of a distino-uished man, and, with the gen- 
erosity and sensibility which so strongly marked 
his character, he arose in his place and moved 
the ibi lowing resolution. 



4ge44. PATRICK HENRY. 176 

Resolved, That a committee of four be ap- 
pointed to wait on Major General Gates, and to 
assure him of the high regard and esteem of this 
House ; that the remembrance of his former glo- 
rious services cannot be obliterated by any reverse 
of fortune ; but that this House, ever mindful of 
his great merit, will omit no opportunity of testi- 
fying to the world the gratitude which, as a 
member of the American Union, this country 
owes to him in his military character." 

This resolution passed by a unanimous vote 
and Mr. Henry, Mr. Richard H. Lee, Mr. Zane, 
and General Nelson were appointed to convey 
it to General Gates. His reply was appropriate 
and did honor to his feelings. It was addressed 
to the Speaker in the following words. 

" Richmond, Dec. 28, 1780.— Sir : I shall 
ever remember with the utmost gratitude the 
high honor this day done me by the honorable, 
the house of delegates of Virginia. When en- 
gaged in the noble cause of freedom and the 
United States, I devoted myself entirely to the 
service of obtaining the great end of their union. 
That I have been once unfortunate is my great 
mortification ; but, let the event of my future 
services be what they may, they will, as they al- 
ways have been, be directed by the most faithful 
mtegrity, and animated by the truest zeal for 
the honor and interest of the United States." 



ifQ PATRICK HENR\. 1781 

Virginia had hitherto been comparatively ex- 
empt from the hurricane of war which was pouring 
ts devastations over the states, and spreading ter- 
or wherever the iron tempest chanced to fall 
The single expedition under Gen. Matthews, w^ho 
landed at Portsmouth and ravaged for two weeks 
in that city and the adjacent neighborhood, about 
the time that Mr. Henry retired from the guber- 
natorial chair was. thus far, the only serious en- 
croachment made by the enemy since Mr. Hen- 
ry was first elected goveinor. But this compar- 
ative quiet was soon to be exchanged for nightly 
alarms and the clangor of battle. In January, 
1781, Gen. Arnold, with the zeal of a new con- 
vert, entered Virginia and ravaged the country 
with the most ruthless cruelty, burning and lay- 
ing w^aste as far up as Richmond and Westham ; 
in April, he was succeeded by Gen. Philips, who 
paid a similar visit to Manchester; in May, came 
Lord Cornwallis with his victorious army from 
the south, spreading terror on every side, 
w^ierever he approached ; and in June, the im- 
petuous Tarleton drove through the country like 
an avalanche, and scattered to the winds every 
attempt at opposition. 

In this state of alarm and danger the assem- 
bly were for some time unable to form a quorum. 
They met on the 10th of May at Richmond, but 



Age 45. Patrick hetsky. 177 

not having the requisite number to form a quo 
rum, and learning that the enemy was approach 
ing the capitol, they adjourned to Charlottesville 
Here they organized on the 28th, and eight dayt 
after, a horseman entered the city at full speed 
and announced the approach of Tarleton at the 
head of three hundred cavalry and mounted in- 
fantry. They adjourned in confusion to Staun- 
ton, but before they could make good their re- 
treat the impetuous warrior rushed into the city 
and seven of their number fell into his hands aa 
prisoners of war. On the 7th of June they at- 
tempted to assemble at Staunton, but another 
alarm caused their sudden dissolution. 

These were " the times that tried the souls oi 
men." Under the general alarm which followed 
the House again had it in contemplation to ap • 
point a dictator, in which case there is not r 
doubt that Mr. Henry would have been theii 
choice. But this period of transient darknes? 
was soon succeeded by the dawning of a brightei 
day. In a few months the tide of fortune wa. 
changed. Greene was victorious in the south 
and the contest was soon closed by the surrender 
of Lord Cornwallis and his haughty legions, to 
the allied army under Washington and Rocham- 
beau on the plains of Yorktov*m, in the same 
state where the alternative of war had been so 



178 PATRICK HENRY. 1781 

nobly advocated by Mr. Henry, who lived to 
witness the fulfilment of all his brightest hopes, 
and, to use his own words, to see " America 
take her stand among the nations of the earth." 
Mr. Henry continued to represent his county 
in the legislative assembly after the acknow- 
ledgement of our independence, and swayed its 
proceedings with a weight of influence so com- 
manding as to be almost irresistible. He took 
an active part in procuring the passage of an 
act, inviting back the British refugees, and made 
a powerful speech in its support. These per- 
sons were peculiarly obnoxious to the Americans. 
The name of " British tory" was associated 
throughout the United States with all that was 
vile, cruel and malicious. It was sufficient to 
kindle the hate of all classes of society ; and 
persons of this description were not unfrequently 
visited with that mode of Lynch law designated 
by a coat of tar and feathers. They were most- 
ly traitors in the worst sense of the word. 
They had not only given aid and coimsel to the 
enemy, but had secretly informed where the 
richest booty might be obtained by those who 
mado it their business to rob, plunder and mur- 
der private citizens, and werr; hence regarded 
with a feeling of the most implacable hate. 
Most of the house burnings, robberies, nightly 



Age 46. Patrick henry. 179 

alarms and murders committed during the war^ 
were instigated and led on by British tories. 

A proposition in favor of a class of men so 
odious, could not fail to meet with warm opposi- 
tion. This, however, only served, as usual, tc 
bring out Mr. Henry's strength. He said that 
as peace had been once more secured, all person- 
al feehngs should be laid aside ; that these per- 
sons had been deluded, and notwithstanding all 
their errors would make good citizens ; that the 
country, enfeebled and exhausted by a long and 
ruinous war, required more laborers to restore it 
to its wonted strength ; that our extensive and 
fertile domain was comparatively without popu-^ 
lation. He dwelt particularly on the policy not"* 
only of inviting back these exiled citizens, but ot 
removing all obstructions to emigration and com- 
merce. 

" Cast your eyes, sir," said he," over ftiis exten- 
sive country and observe the salubrity of your cli- 
mate, the variety and fertility of your soil : see that 
soil. intersected in every quarter by bold naviga- 
ble streams, flowing to the east and to the west, 
as if the finger of heaven were marking out the 
course of your settlements, inviting you to enter- 
prise and pointing the way to wealth. Sir, you 
are destined, at some time or other, to become a 
great agricultural and commercial people : the 



J80 PATRICK HENRY. 1783 

only question is, whether you choose to reach 
this point by slow gradations, and at some dis- 
tant period — hngering on through a long and 
sickly minority — subjected, meanwhile, to the 
machinations, insults and oppressions of enemies, 
foreign and domestic, without sufficient strength 
to resist and chastise them — or whether you 
choose, rather, to rush at once, as it were, to the 
full enjoyment of those high destinies, and be 
able to cope, single handed, with the proudest 
oppressor of the old world. 

" If you prefer the latter course, as I trust 
you do, encourage immigration ; encourage the 
husbandmen, the merchants, the mechanics of 
the old world to come and settle in this land of 
promise. Make it the home of the skilful, the 
industrious, the fortunate and happy, as well as 
the asylum of the distressed. Fill up the meas- 
ure of your population as speedily as you can, 
by the means which Heaven hath placed in your 
power, and, I venture to prophesy, that there are 
those now living who will see this favored land 
among the most powerful on earth — able, sir, to 
take care of herself, without resorting to that 
policy which is always so dangerous, though 
sometimes unavoidable, of calling in foreign aid. 
Yes, sir, they will see her great in arts and 
arms 3 her golden harvests weaving over fields o"* 



Age 46. Patrick henry. 181 

immeasurable extent; her commerce penetrating 
the most distant seas ; and her cannon silencing 
the vain boasts of those who now proudly affect 
to rule the waves 

" But, sir, you must have men ; you cannot 
get along without them ; those heavy forests oi 
valuable timber under v^^hich your lands are 
groaning must be cleared away; those vast 
riches which cover the face of your soil as 
well as those which lie hid in its bosom, are to 
be developed and gathereil only by the skill and 
enterprise of me7i. Your timber, sir, must be 
w^orked up into ships, to transport the produc- 
tions of the soil from which it has been cleared : 
then, you must have commercial meo and com 
mercial capital to take off your productions and 
find the best market for them abroad. Your great 
want, sir, is the want of men, and these you must 
have and will have speedily if you are wise. 

" Do you ask how you are to get them ? Open 
your doors, sir, and they will come in. The 
population of the old world is full to overflow- 
ing : that population is ground, too, by the op- 
pressions of the governments under which they 
live. Sir, they are already standing on tiptoe 
upon their native shores, and looking to your 
coasts with a wishful and longing eye. They 
see here a land blessed with natural and political 
Q 



182 PATRICK HENRY. 1783 

advantages, which are not equalled by those of 
any other country upon earth ; a land on which 
a gracious Providence hath emptied the horn of 
abundance ; a land over which peace hath now 
spread her white wings, and where content and 
plenty lie .down at every door. Sir, they see 
something still more attractive than all this. 
They see a land in which liberty hath taken up 
her abode ; that liberty whom they had consid- 
ered as a fabled goddess, existing only in the 
fancies of poets. They see here a real divinity. 
Her altars rising on every hand throughout these 
happy states; her glories chanted by three 
millions of happy tongues; the whole region 
smihng under her happy influence. Sir, let this, 
our celestial goddess, liberty, stretch forth her 
fair hand toward the people of the old world, 
tell them to come and bid them welcome ; and 
you will see them pouring in from the north and 
the south, from the east and the west ; your wil- 
derness will be cleared and settled ; your deserts 
will smile ; your ranks will be filled, and you 
will soon be in a condition to defy the powers of 
any adversary. 

" But," continued, he, " gentlemen object to 
any accessions from Great Britain, and particu- 
larly to the return of the British refugees. Sir, 
I feel no objection to the return of those deluded 



A.GE 46. PATRICK HENRY. 183 

people. They have, to be sure, mistaken their 
own interests most wofully, and most wofully 
have they suffered the punishment due to their 
offences. But the relations which we bear to 
them and to their native country are now chang- 
ed. Their king hath acknowledged our inde- 
pendence ; the quarrel is over ; peace hath 
returned, and our people are free. Let us have 
the magnanimity, sir, to lay aside our antipathies 
and our prejudices, and consider the subject in a 
political light. They are an enterprising, mon- 
eyed people ; they will be serviceable in taking 
off the surplus of our lands and supplying us 
with necessaries during the infant state of our 
manufactures. Even if they be inimical to us 
in point of feeling and principle, I can see no 
objection, in a political view, in making them 
tributary to our advantage. And as I have no 
orejudices to prevent my making this use ol 
them, so, sir, I have no fear of any mischief that 
they can do us. Afraid of them I — what, sir," 
continued he, rising to one of his loftiest atti- 
tudes, and assuming a look of the most indignant 
and sovereign contempt,- — " shall we, who have 
laid the proud British lion at our feet, now be 
afraid of his whelps ?" 

We have given this quotation from Mr. Hen- 
ry's speech, not so much because it presents a 



184 PATRICK HENRY. 1783, 

fair siimple of his powers as an orator, as be- 
cause it shows that he was something more than 
a " mere demagogue 5" that he possessed the 
foresight and penetration of a statesman, and 
took an enlarged view of the subjects that came 
before him. Mr. Wirt informs us, however, 
that the force of the closing figure produced an 
effect that made the House start simultaneously, 
and continued to be a(hnired long after the occa- 
sion which gave it birth had passed away. It 
was in these original illustrations and energetic 
figures that Mr. Henry particularly excelled. 
Judge Tyler has furnished another example, 
scarcely less remarkable than that related above. 
It was on a kindred subject, the advantages of 
commerce and free trade, and the whole speech 
is represented to have been remarkably eloquent 
and sublime. " Why," said he, " should we fet- 
ter commerce ? If a man is in chains he droops 
and bows to the earth, for his spirit is broken ; 
but let him twist the fetters from his legs and he 
will stand erect. Fetter not commerce, sir ; let 
her be as free as air ; she will range the whole 
creation, and return on the wrings of the four 
winds of heaven to bless the land with plenty." 
While Mr. Henry was a member of the House, 
he advocated with great earnestness and ability 
a plan which he had matured for promoting a 



Age 47. Patrick henry. 185 

anion between the Indians and the wliite inhali- 
tants. Hitherto the savage tribes had proved 
the implacable enemies of the Anglo-Americans 
The history of the frontier settlements was little 
more than a revolting tale of midnight burnings, 
plunderings and assassinations. " The story of 
their accumulated WTongs had been handed 
down by tradition from father to son and, embla- 
zoned with all the colors of Indian oratory, had 
kept the war fire smoking from age to age, and 
the hatchet and scalping knife perpetually 
bright." They had leagued with France against 
the English and with the English against the 
Americans, and w^ere a most terrific scourge in 
the hands of the enemy. To conquer them in 
battle was only to whet their appetite for a more 
desperate revenge ; to treat with them w^as to 
make a mockery of public faith ; to subdue them 
was to blot them from existence. 

The only remedy against this terrible scourge 
seemed to be some plan by which the interests 
of the two races might be identified, and this Mr. 
Henry hoped to accomplish by holding out in- 
ducements for promoting intermarriages between 
the Indians and the white population. He accor- 
dingly brought in a bill offering pecuniary boun- 
ties to all white citizens who should produce 
attested certificates of marriage w4th those of 
q2 



186 PATRICK HENRY. 1784 

Indian blood, which bounties were to be repeated 
at the birth of every child, besides granting^ to 
them certain privileges, such as exemption from 
taxation, and the gratuitous education of the off- 
spring resulting from all marriages of this de- 
scription. The bill was urged forwai'd under the 
stimulus of Mr. Henry's powerful eloquence 
against all opposition, and bid fair to become a 
law. It passed through its first and second read- 
ings and was engrossed for its final passage, when 
its great advocate and mover was taken from 
the floor to preside over the destinies of the 
state. It came to its third reading three days 
after this event and was rejected. 

It is easy to see that this measure, whatever 
may have been its effects in practice, arose from 
the same general principles which caused its 
mover to advocate the return of the British refu- 
gees; the encouragement of immigration, and the 
freedom of commerce. The measure is also in- 
dicative of Mr. Henry's liberal and humane cha- 
racter, and of the originality and boldness of his 
views. He is said to have been very sanguine 
of its effects and to have supported it with some 
of the loftiest flights of his noble eloquence. 

We have not a doubt that the failure of this 
measure was entirely owing to the withdrawal 
of Mr. Henry from the House. He was at this 



Age 47. Patrick henry. 187 

time in all the plenitude of his vigor and influ- 
ence and th-e acknowledged leader af that 
body. Mr. Richard Henry Lee was generally 
nis opponent, and among all the brilhant intel- 
lects of which the state justly boasted at this 
time, these two distinguished orators still contin- 
ued to maintain their advance position. Mr. 
Henry was, however, generally victorious. He 
had more temper and tact, and his eloquence 
was more masculine and overwhelming. It was 
not uncommon for him to carry away the House 
at his pleasure, and to reverse its grave decisions 
by a single stroke of his masterly w^and. Of 
this fact Judge Stuart gives a most interesting 
instance. He says : — 

" The finances of the country had been much 
deranged during the war, and public credit was 
at a low ebb. A party in the legislature thought 
It high time to place the character and credit of 
the state on a more reputable footing by laying 
taxes commensurate with all the public demands. 
With this view a bill had been brought into the 
HoHse and referred to the committee of the whole, 
in support of which the then Speaker, Mr. Tyler 
Henry Tazewell, Mann Page, William Ronald, 
and many other members of great respectability, 
including, to the best of my recollection, Rich- 
ard H. Lee and, perhaps, Mr. Madison.) Mr 



188 fATRICK HENRY. 1784 

Menry, on the other hand, was of opinion that 
this was a premature attempt; that poUcy requi- 
red that the people should have some repose 
after the fatigue-s and privations to which they 
had been subjected during the long and arduous 
struggle for independence 

" The advocates of the bill, in committee of 
the whole House, used their utmost efforts, and 
were successful in conforming it to their views 
by such a majority (say thirty) as seemed to en- 
sure its passage. When the committee rose, the 
bill was instantly reported to the House, when 
Mr. Henry, who had been excited and roused by 
his recent defeat, came forward again in all the 
majesty of his power. For some time after he 
commenced speaking the countenances of his op- 
ponents indicated no apprehension of danger to 
their cause 

"The feelings of Mr. Tyler, which were 
sometimes warm, could not, on that occasion, be 
concealed. His countenance wps forbidding, 
even repulsive, and his face turned from the 
speaker. Mr. Tazewell was reading a pamphlet ; 
and Mr. Page was more than usually grave. 
After some time, however, it was discovered that 
Mr. Tyler's countenance gradually began to re- 
lax. He w^ould occasionally look at Mr. Henry ; 
sometimes smile. His attention, by degrees, be- 



Age 47. Patrick henry. 189 

came more fixed ; at length it became complete- 
ly so. He next appeared to be in good humor ; 
leaned toward Mr. Henry; appeared chained 
and delighted and finally lost in wonder and 
amazement. The progress of these feelings was 
clearly legible in his countenance 

" Mr. Henry drew a most affecting picture of 
the state of poverty and suffering in which the 
people of th^ upper counties had been left 
by the w^ar. His delineation of their wants 
and wretchedness was so minute, so full of 
feeling, and, withal, so true, that he could 
scarcely fail to enlist on his side every sympa- 
thetic mind. He contrasted the severe toil with 
which they had to gain their daily subsistence 
with the facilities enjoyed by the people of the 
lower counties. Tlue latter, he said, residing on 
the salt rivers and creeks, could draw their sup- 
phes at pleasure from the waters that flowed by 
their doors. He then presented such a ludicrous 
image of the members who had advocated the 
bill (who were mostly from the lower counties,) 
peeping and peering among the shores of the 
creeks to pick up their mess of crabs, or addling 
off to the oyster-rocks to rake up their daily 
bread, as filled the House with a roar of merri- 
ment. Mr. Tazewell laid down his pamphlet 
and shook his sides with laughter : even the 



190 PATRICK HENRY. 1785 

gravity of Mr. Page was affected ; and a corres- 
ponding change prevailed through the ranks of 
the advocates of the bill, and you might discov- 
er that they had surrendered their cause. In 
this they were not disappointed, for on a division, 
Mr. Henry had a majority of upwards of thirty 
against the bill." 

Mr. Henry was again elected governor in the 
fall of 1784 and was re-elected in 1785, but at 
the end of the second term declined being: a can- 
didate. His pecuniary affairs had fallen into 
some disorder and required so much of his per- 
sonal attention as to make it imperative on him 
to quit the chair of state. He accordingly in- 
formed the House of his determination, and that 
body, after electing his successor, passed the fol- 
lowing resolution by a unanimous vote. 

" Resolved, That a committee be appointed 
to wait on his excellency, the governor, and 
present him the thanks of this House for his 
wise, prudent and upright administration, du- 
ring his last appointment of chief magistrate of 
this commonwealth, assuring him that they re- 
tain a perfect sense of his abilities, in the dis- 
charge of the duties of that high and important 
office, and wish him all domestic happiness on 
his return to private life." 

In his reply, Mr. Henry expressed his gratili- 



Agf49 PATRICK HENRY. 1^1 

cation for this mark of public favor. " The ap- 
probation of my country," he says, " is the 
highest reward to which my mind is capable o^ 
aspiring, and I shall return to private life, highl}' 
gratified in the recollection of this instance ol 
regard shown me by the House ; having only to 
regret that my abilities to serve my country have 
come so far short of my wishes." 



CHAPTER XIII. 

Articles of confederation found very defective — Causes wliicb 
led to calling the convention for framing a new form of gov 
ernment — Mr. Henry elected a member but does not attend— 
Oj;poses the constitution in the Virginia convention — Pros 
poets of its succes— Incidents of the debate— Constitution 
ratified — Mr. Henry's disposition towards it. 

It had been evident to most of the leading 
statesmen in the country for some time, that the 
articles of confederation by which the states 
were bound together and under which Congress 
exercised its authority, were very defective, and 
required, at least, a thorough revision. The 
power which they had conferred on the central 
government was so limited that its acts comman- 
ded neither the respect nor obedience of the 
states. On questions about which the people 
were not likely very much to differ, Congress 



Age 50. Patrick henry. 193 

had not hesitated to exercise supreme authority : 
it had made war, declared independence, nego- 
ciated treaties, accepted terms of peace, and con- 
ferred extraordinary powers on the commander- 
in-chief. But in raising troops, levying taxes, 
and executing its own mandates, it was as feeble 
as Samson shorn of his locks. It had, indeed 
only dared to recommend, what it should have 
possessed the authority to enforce. 

This defect in the constitution of the national 
assembly had given rise to innumerable embar- 
rassments and difficulties during the war, which 
were found not to be diminished on the return of 
peace. As each state retained the power over 
its own commercial regulations, and as two of 
them were sometimes divided by a navigable 
stream, disputes between the different states be- 
came alarmingly frcvquent, and jealousies follow- 
ed which threatened the most serious consequen- 
ces. These difficulties were enhanced by the pe- 
culiar state of the country. The nation was 
deeply in debt, and having no power to enforce 
the collection of its revenues it was without 
credit. Under the feeble powers conferred by 
the articles of confederation, Conofress had o^rad 
iially sunk into a state of such insignificanct 
that its recommendations were not respected an( 
its mandates were not obeyed. As an arbite 

Yi 



J 94 PATRICK HENRY. 1786 

between the states it had lost nearly all :ts au- 
thority, and it was evident that a crisis was ap- 
proaching scarcely less to be dreaded than the 
war from which the country had but just emer 
ged. 

At length, while an attempt was making by 
the states of Virginia and Maryland to establish 
some compact in relation to the navigation ol 
those rivers which belonged in common to both^ 
and also a naval force and a tariff of duties to 
which the laws of both states should conform, 
it was discovered that the arrangement might be 
advantageously extended to other states, and the 
commissioners having met, recommended a gen- 
eral convention of delegates from the ditferent 
states, with ample powers to make such alter 
ations in the central government as the state ol 
the nation might require, and adjourned to 
meet at Philadelphia on the second of May, 
1787. 

The Virginia legislature having concurred in 
this recommendation proceeded, on the fourth ol 
December, a few days after Mr. Henry's resig- 
nation, to appoint seven delegates to represent 
the state in this convention ; and on this list ot 
distinguished individuals Mr. Henry's name 
stands second to him who stood of right before 
all others in America. The order in which this 



Age 50. Patrick henry. 195 

appointment is recorded in the journals of the 
House is as follows : — George Washington, Pat 
rick Henry, Edmund Randolph, John Blair, 
James Madison, George Mason, and George 
Wythe. The deliberations of the convention re- 
sulted in that admirable instrument, the present 
Constitution of the United States. 

But the same cause which had prevented Mr. 
Henry from continuing at the head of the gov- 
ernment of Virginia, rendered it inconsistent for 
him to obey this honorable call. He retired to 
Prince Edward county and, at the age of fifty, 
set about reparing his broken fortune. Mean- 
time the convention assembled and, after a series 
of long and patient labors and deep difficulties 
they matujed a form of government which was 
to be submitted to the states for their ratification. 
It was the result of mutual concession and ami- 
cable compromise, and answered the full expec- 
tation of but few. " I consent to this consti- 
tution," said Dr. Franklin, " because I expect 
no better, and because I am not sure it is not the 
best. The opinions I have had of its errors I 
sacrifice to the public good." " There are some 
hings/' observed the good and patriotic Wash- 
ington, " in the new form, which never did, and 
I am persuaded, never will meet my cordial ap- 
probation ; but I most firmly believe that, in the 



196 PATRICK HENRY. 1787 

aggregate, it is the best constitution that can be 
obtained at this epoch ; and that this or a disso 
lution awaits our choice." 

It was on this middle ground that these greal 
men met ; and, had Mr. Henry attended the sit- 
tings of the convention we can scarcely doubt tha 
his uncompromising hostility would have givei 
place to a similar spirit. But he was at a distance 
upon his farm, and vi^hat he regarded as the glar 
ing errors of the constitution broke upon him a 
once. He saw with alarm the concessions whicl 
it required of the states, and the strength ant 
power with which it clothed the general govern- 
ment. A copy had been enclosed to him hy 
Gen. Washington who, without recommending: 
the instrument, stated in general terms, that " as 
a constitutional door is open for amendments, 
hereafter, the adoption of it, under the present 
circumstances of the Union, is, in my opinion, 
desirable." In his reply, written on the 19th of 
October, 1787, Mr. Henry says: — "I have to 
lament that I cannot bring- my mind to accord 
with the proposed constitution. The concern 
I feel on this account is really greater than I can 
express. Perhaps mature rejection may furnish 
me reasons to change my present sentiments intc 
a conformity with the opinions of those persona 
ges for whom I have the highest reverence." 



luE 51 PATRICK HENRY. 197 

-Although Washington had expressed himself 
so very moderately in relation to the new form 
of government, yet the deep solicitude which he 
felt on account of its adoption is manifested on 
every page of his writings, and the weight of his 
name, his influence and exertions were all cast 
in its favor. Indeed, the great body o" me tal- 
ent and patriotism of the country appears to have 
Deen in favor of the new measure, and Mr. Hen- 
ry was, at one time, almost alone in his opposi- 
tion. A member of the assembly in writing to 
Washington, in the latter part of 1787, says :—- 
" It gives me much pleasure to inform you that 
the sentiments of the members are infinitely more 
lavorable to the constitution than the most zeal- 
ous advocates of it could have expected. I have 
ot met with one in all my inquiries, (and I 
'>ave made them with great diligence,) opposed 
to it, except Mr. Henry." In April, 1788, after 
six states had already cast their votes in favor of 
the instrument, Washington, in writing to La- 
fayette, says : — " Since the elections of members 
ior the convention have taken place in this state, 
it is more generally believed that it will be adopt- 
ed here, than it was before those elections were 
made. There will, however, be powerful and 
eloquent speeches on both sides of the question 
n the Virginia convention ; but as Pendleton, 
r2 



198 PATRICK HEWRY. 1788 

Wythe, Blair, Madison, Jones, Nicholas, Innes, 
and many others of our first characters, will be 
advocates for its adoption, you may suppose that 
ihe weight of abilities will rest on that side. 
Henry and Mason are its great adversaries." 

Thus, then, stood the case, at the meeting 
of the convention on the second of June, 1788, 
which was to decide the fate of this important 
mstrument in Virginia. , Of that convention Mr. 
Pendleton was chosen president, and on the 4th, 
two days after its organization, Mr. Madison 
writes : — " To-day the discussions commenced 
in committee of the whole. Henry and Mason 
made a lame figure, and appeared to take dilfer- 
ent and awkward grounds. The federalists are 
a good deal elated by the present prospects." 

But whatever may have been Mr. Henry's 
figure at the opening of the convention the 
friends of the constitution soon found that, not- 
withstanding the immense w^ eight of influence 
and talent which they embodied, they had to 
meet, at least, one champion whose powers had 
been tried in many a well-fought battle, and who 
was not much more likely to be driven from his 
ground by an array of numbers than the gallant 
knight in the " Lady of the Lake, when, under 
the sudden surprise of Roderic Dhu's warriors, 
ne sheltered his back by the overhanging cliff 



Age 52. Patrick henry. 199 

and with his blade ■ flashing in the h'ght, cried 
out : — 

" Come one, come all — this rock shall fly 
From its firm base as soon as I." 

As the debate advanced, every day seemed to 
diminish the confidence of the federal members. 
On the 17th, Gen. Washington, in writing to 
Gen. Knox, says : — " Afiairs in the convention 
for some time past have not worn so good an 
aspect as we could have wished, and, indeed, the 
acceptance of the constitution has become more 
doubtful than it was thought to be at their first 
meeting." 

Gen. Washington was right. The very pow- 
erful opposition which Mr. Henry had met, stim- . 
ulated to their fullest extent all the great resources 
of his wonderful mind, and, like Samson with his 
jaw-bone, he dealt around his blows with an effect 
which made the advocates of the constitution 
tremble for the success of that measure which they 
had considered as past a doubt. In this protract- 
ed debate he was sustained on the floor by only 
three members, while an array of genius and 
talent sparkled in the ranks of the opposition, 
such as seldom graces the councils of a state. 
Among the number was Mr. Madison, afterwards 
President of the United States ; Mr. Monroe, 



200 PATRICK HENRY. 1788 

vho also rose to ihrtt distinguished station ; Mi 
Marshall, the able and renowned Chief Justice > 
Mr. Innis, who was one of the most accomplish- 
ed orators of. his time, and whose eloquence Mr. 
Henry has justly characterized as " splendid, 
magnificent, and sufficient to shake the human 
mind ;" Mr. Pendleton, Mr. Wythe, Mr. Nicho- 
las, Mr. Randolph, Mr. Henry Lee, and Mr. 
Corbin, besides others of lesser weight. 

But notwithstanding these fearful odds, he 
continued for tw^enty days with undiminished 
strength to sustain this unequal combat, rising to 
still loftier flights and more Herculean efforts as 
vhe debate waxed warmer and the combat thick- 
ened. Hitherto his efforts, however splendid^ 
.lad been comparatively short and occasional. 
He had borne down the foe by a single impetu- 
ous charge. But now he was not only called 
upon, hke Ivanhoe, to meet the shock of succes- 
sive champions, but also to join in the general 
melee ; to face every species of attack ; to han- 
dle the lance, the broad sword and the mace-at- 
arms. " His eloquence," says Mr. Wirt, " was 
poured from inexhaustable fountains, and assu- 
med every variety of hue, and form, and motion, 
which could delight or persuade, instruct or as- 
tonish. Sometimes it was the hmpid rivulet 
sparkling down the mountain's s/ie, and winding 



A.eE52. PATRICK HENRY. 201 

its silver course between margins of moss ; then 
gradually swelling to a bolder stream, it roared 
in the headlong cataract and spread its rainbow 
to the sun. Now it flowed on in tranquil majes- 
ty, like a river of the west, reflecting from its 
polished surface forest, and cliff, and sky ; anon 
it was the angry ocean chafed by the tempest, 
hanging its billows with deafning clamors among 
the cracking shrouds, or hurling them in sublime 
defiance at the storm that frowned above." 

But all these mighty efforts proved unavailing. 
The convention finally gave its vote for the con- 
stitution by a majority of ten. But the objec- 
tions which had been urged against it were not 
without their effect. Before the convention ad- 
journed it agreed on a bill of rights and a series 
of amendments, embracing most of the objections 
which Mr. Henry and his associates had so stren- 
uously urged in the course of the debate, which 
were sent to Congress with the vote of ratifica- 
tion, and also to the executives of each of the 
states. Mr. Henry seems to have been conscious 
that the majority of the convention were opposed 
to him and that the constitution would be finally 
sanctioned. This he intimates in his closing 
speech, the last paragraph of which is so illus- 
trative of his general urbanity and politeness, as 
well as the grace with which he could yield to 



202 PATKICK HENRY. 1788 

defi^at, that it may not be improper to give it a 
place. He says: — 

" I beg pardon of this House for taking up 
more time than came to my share ; and I thank 
them for the patience and polite attention with 
which I have been heard. If I shall be in the 
minority, I shall have those painful sensations 
which arise from a conviction of being overpow- 
ered in a good cause. Yet, I will be a peace- 
able citizen ! My head, my hand, and my heart 
shall be free to retrieve the loss of liberty, and 
remove the defects of that system in a constitu- 
tional way. I wish not lo go to violence, but 
will wait with hopes that the spirit which 
predominated in the Revolution is not yet gone ; 
nor the cause of those who are attached to the 
Revolution yet lost. I shall therefore patiently 
wait, in expectation of seeing the government 
changed so as to be compatible with the safety, 
liberty and happiness of the people.'' 

It was during this debate, and when the argu- 
ments were well nigh brought to a close and the 
question was about to be submitted to the con- 
vention,.that Mr. Henry seized upon an incident 
that occurred while he was speaking, and turned 
it to account by one of those master strokes 
which none but the loftiest geniuses can make, 
and which live so long in the traditions of the 



AriE52. PATRICK HENRY. 203 

neighborhood. He was pressing home upon the 
convention the immense importance of the ques- 
tion which was about to be submitted for their 
decision, and which was to exert a mighty influ- 
ence for good or for evil upon generations yet 
unborn when, passing from his subject, and look- 
ing, as he said, " beyond that horizon which 
binds mortal eyes," he pointed, according to Mr 
Wirt, "with a countenance and action which 
made the blood run back upon the aching heart, 
to those celestial beings who were hovering over 
the scene and waiting with anxiety for a decision 
which involved the happiness or misery of more 
than half the human race. 

" To those beings, with the same thrilling look 
and action, he had just addressed an invocation 
that made every nerve shudder with supernatu- 
ral horror, when,, lo! a storm at that instant 
arose, which shook the whole building, and the 
spirits whom he had called seemed to have come 
at his bidding. Availing himself of the incident 
with a master's art, he seemed to mix in the 
fight of his etherial auxiliaries and, rising on the 
wings of the tempest, to seize upon the artillery 
of heaven and direct its fiercest thunders against 
the heads of his adversaries !" The scene was 
ihr Uing beyond description, and finally became 
.ns)pportable: so that when the voice of the 



204 PATRICK HENRY. 178S 

speaker was heard no more, the members started 
from their seats in wildness and confusion, and 
dissloved by common consent without the for 
mahty of an adjournment. 

This convention was one of singular ability 
embodying, perhaps, more of those distinguish- 
ed men who afterwards filled a large space 
in the public eye, than any other held in the 
state. The debates were conducted with great 
propriety; and, notwithstanding Mr. Henry's 
strenuous opposition, he appears to have enter- 
tained no other motive than that of the purest 
patriotism, and when the result was declared, 
expressed his willingness to give the new gov 
ernment a fair trial. Gen. Washington, in a let- 
ter to Mr. Lincoln says : — 

" You will, before this letter can reach you, 
have heard of the ratification of the new govern- 
ment by this state. Our accounts from Rich- 
mond are, that the debates, through all the dif- 
ferent stages of the business, though animated, 
have been conducted with great dignity and tem- 
per ; that the final decision exhibited a solemn 
scene ; and that there is every reason to expect 
a perfect acquiescence therein by the minority, 
Mr. Henry, the great leader of it, has signified 
that, though he can never be reconciled to the 
constitution in its present form, and shall give it 



Age 52 Patrick henry. 2U5 

every constitutional opposition in his power, yet 
ne will submit to it peaceably, as he thinks every 
good citizen ought to do, when it is in exercise j 
and that he will, both by precept and example, 
inculcate this doctrine on all around him." 
s 



CHAPTER XIV. 

Mr. Henry's course in relation to U. S. Senators— He pursues 
the subject of amending the Constitution — Debate in the 
House^^-Anecdote on the subject of " bowing to the majesty 
of the people." 

The Constitution was finally ratified by eleven 
out of the thirteen states, and its provisions were 
now to be carried into effect. Accordingly, at 
the ensuing session of the Virginia legislature, 
which met in October following, two senators 
w^ere to be chosen to represent the state in the 
national senate. Those who had advocated tne 
new government* were exceedingly anxious that 
these state representatives should be well dispo- 
sed tow^ards the Constitution, and were active in 
bringing every effort to bear on this point. But 
the great influence which Mr. Henry's extraor- 



AgI, 52 PATRICK HENRY. 207 

dinary powers had given him in the late conven- 
tion afforded grounds for serious apprehension. 
Gen. Washington, in a letter to Mr. Madison 
before the meeting of the House, speaking of this 
lubject, says : — " I assure you I am under pain- 
ful apprehensions from the single circumstance 
of Mr. H. having the v^hole game to play in 
the assembly of this state ; and the effect it may 
have in others should be counteracted if possi- 
ble." 

The apprehensions of the General and his 
friends were not without good and sufficient 
grounds. The federalists, as the advocates of 
the constitution were called, presented the name 
of Mr. Madison, who had greatly distinguished 
himself both in the federal and state conventions, 
and who united in his favor all the strength of 
his party, for one of these offices, but do not ap- 
pear to have fixed decidedly on the other. Mr. 
Henry, however, believing that the vast powers 
conferred on the central government by the new 
constitution would best be held in check by the 
election of senators who regarded those powers 
with a jealous eye, and that the amendments 
which he advocated would thus be more likely 
to have a fair hearing, determined to oppose Mr. 
Madison, and he accordingly took his usual lib- 
erty of nominating two candidates, Mr. Richard 



208 PATRICK HENRY. 1788 

Ho^ry Lee and Mr. Grayson, both of whom were 
duly elected. Gen. Washington informs us, in 
one of his letters, that " the federalists in the as- 
sembly were exceedingly mortified that Mr. Madi- 
son should have lost his election by eight or nine 
votes." 

But Mr. Henry stopped not here. He had 
been too thoroughly awakened to what he con- 
ceived to be the great errors of the constitution, 
to permit it to rest in quiet. His mind seems to 
have dwelt with honest and deep solicitude on the 
consequences which were to result to his country 
from the unconditional adoption of that instru 
ment, and his efforts were bent on such a modi- 
fication of its provisions as, in his estimation, 
would secure equal liberty and exact justice to 
all. With this view he introduced a series of 
resolutions strongly recommending Congress to 
call a new convention, for the purpose of propo- 
sing such amendments as would make the con- 
stitution more acceptable to the people, which, 
although opposed with great strength by the 
federal party in the House, were carried by an 
overwhelming majority. Superadded to these 
were several documents to the same import, 'all 
of which were understood to be fi:-om the pen of 
Mr. Henry. These consisted of an address of 
the people of Virginia to Congress, a letter to 



Age 52. Patrick henry. 209 

George Clinton, governor of New-York, and a 
circular letter to the several states. 

The spirit v^^hich had thus broken forth in 
Virginia had manifested itself in other sections 
of the Union, and the questions arising from the 
powers conferred on the new government by the 
constitution were debated with great warmth 
and energy. Npr was this spirit without its ben- 
eficial tendency. The constitution, although 
containing the basis of the most admirable sys- 
tem of government which the world has ever 
seen, was not claimed to be without defects, and 
in several instances the powers conferried on the 
central government were defined with too little 
accuracy, and left an open door for that wide sys- 
tem of construction which is so apt to creep into 
all governments. The powerful opposition or- 
ganized under Mr. Henry in Virginia, and which 
also manifested itself in other parts of the Union 
called attention to the facts which we have 
hinted at, and Congress, on the 4th of March, 
1789, proposed twelve amendments to the con- 
stitution, ten of which were adopted by the states, 
and are still appended to that instrument 

We have intimated that the debate on Mr. 

Henry's resolutions was sharp and animated, and 

we might add, that in one instance, at least, it 

was personal ; and that he was the subject of the 

s2 



210 PATRICK HENRY. 1788 

attack — an attack which he repelled with, such con- 
summate skill as to become a theme of great public 
merriment at the time, and has continued ever 
since, one of the most popular anecdotes that relate 
to him. 

"He had insisted, it seems," says Mr. Wirt, 
" with great force, that the speedy adoption of the 
amendments was the only measure that could se- 
cure the great and inalienable rights of the freemen 
of this country ; that the people were known to be 
exceedingly anxious for this measure; that it was 
the only step wliich could reconcile them to the 
new constitution, and assure that public content- 
ment, security and confidence which were the sole 
objects of government, and without which no gov- 
ernmqjit could stand ; that whatever might be the 
individual sentiments of gentlemen, yet the wishes 
of the people, the foundation of all authority, be- 
ing known, they were bound to conform to those 
wishes ; - that, for his own part, he considered 
his opinions as nothing, when opposed to those 
of his constituents ; and that he was ready and 
willing at all times and on all occasions, ' to bow 
with the utmost deference to the majesty of the 
people.^ " 

A young gentleman on the federal side of the 
House, who had been a member of the late con- 
vention, and had in that body received on one 



Age 52. Patrick henry. 211 

occasion a slight touch of Mr. Henry's lash, re- 
solved now, in an ill-fated moment, to make a 
set charge u}3on the veteran, and brave him to 
the combat. He possessed fancy, a graceful ad- 
dress, and an easy, sprightly elocution, and had 
been sent by his father (an opulent man, and an 
officer of high rank and trust under the regal 
government,) to finish his education in the col- 
leges of England, and acquire the polish of the 
court of St. James, where he had passed the 
whole 'period of the American Rtvolution. 

" Returning with advantages which were rare 
in this country and, with the confidence natural 
to his years presuming a little too far upon those 
advantages, he seized upon the words, * bow to 
the majesty of the people,' which Mr. Henry had 
used, and rung the changes upon them with con- 
siderable felicity. He denied the solicitude of 
the people for the amendments so strenuously 
urged on the other side ; insisted that the people 
thouGfht their ' rreat and mialienaUe rights' suf- 
ficiently securcvl by the constitution which they 
had adopted ; that the preamble of the constitu- 
tion itself, v/hich was now to be considered as 
the language of (he people, declared its objects 
to be, among oliiers, the security of those very 
rights. 

" ' The people,' said he, * declare the constitu 



212 PATRICK HENRY. 1788 

tion to be the guarantee of their rights, while the 
gentleman, in opposition to this pubUc declara- 
tion of their sentiments, insists upon his amend- 
ments as furnishing that guarantee ; yet the gen- 
tleman tells us that he ' bows to the majesty of 
the people.' These words he accompanied with 
a most graceful bow. ' The gentleman,' he pro- 
ceeded, ' has set himself in opposition to the will 
of the people throughout the whole course of this 
transaction. The people approved of the con- 
stitution ; the suffrage of their constituents in the 
last convention approved it ; the people wished, 
most anxiously wished, the adoption of the con- 
stitution as the only means of saving the credit 
and the honor of the country, and producing the 
stability of the Union ; but the gentleman; on 
the contrary, had placed himself at the head ol 
those who opposed its adoption ; yet the gentle- 
man is ever ready and willing, at all times 
and on all occasions to how to the majesty of the 
people. (Another profound and giaceful bow.) 
" Thus he proceeded, through a number of an- 
imated sentences, winding up each one with the 
same words, sarcastically repeated, and the accom- 
paniment of the same graceful obeisance. Among 
other things he said that it was of little impor- 
tance whether a country w^as ruled by a des- 
pot w^ith a tiara on his head, or by a demagogue 



4gE 52. PATRICK liENRY. 213 

in a red cloak, a caul-barp Ar:o;, .Slc, describing 
Mr. Henry's dress so minutely as to draw every 
eye upon him, although he should profess, at all 
times and on all occasions, to bow to the majesty 
of the 2)eople. 

" A gentleman who was present, and who, 
struck with the singularity of the attack, had the 
curiosity to number the vibrations on those 
words and the accompanying action, states that 
he counted thirteen of the most graceful bows 
he had ever beheld. The friends of Mr. Henry 
considered such an attack on a man of his years 
and high character, as very little short of sacri- 
lege ; while on the other side of the House there 
was a smothered sort of dubious laugh, in w^hich 
there seemed to be at least as much apprehension 
as enjoyment : but Mr. Henry heard the whole 
of it without any apparent mark of attention. 

" The young gentleman having finished his 
phihppic, very much, at least, to his own satis- 
faction, took his seat with the gayest expression 
of triumph in his countenance. * Heu ! Nescia 
mens hominum fati, sortisque futurse !' Mr. 
Henry raised himself up heavily, and with affect- 
ed awkwardness. ' Mr. Speaker,' said he, * I am 
a plain man, and have been educated altogether 
in Virginia. My whole hfe has been spent 
among planters and other plain men of similar 



fil4 PATRICK HENRY. 1788 

education, who have never had the advantage of 
that polish which a court alone can give, and 
which the gentleman over the way has so hap- 
pily acquired : indeed, sir, the gentleman's em- 
ployments and mine have been as widely differ- 
ent as our fortunes ; for while he was availing 
himself of the opportunity v,hich a splendid for- 
tune afforded him of acquiring a foreign educa- 
tion, mixing among the great, attending levees 
and courts, basking in the beams of royal favor 
at St. James, and exchanging courtesies with 
crowned heads, I was engaged in the arduous 
toils of the Revolution, and was probably as far 
from thinking of acquiring those polite accom- 
plishments which the gentleman has so success- 
fully cultivated, as that gentleman then was from 
sharing in the toils and dangers in which his un- 
'polished countrymen were engaged. 

" * I wiil not therefore presume to vie with 
the gentleman in those courtly accomplishments 
of which he has just given the House so agreea- 
ble a specimen ; yet such a bow as I can make, 
shall be ever at the service of the people.' 
Herewith, although there was no man who could 
make a more graceful bow than Mr. Henry, he 
made one so ludicrously awkward and clown- 
ish as to take the House by surprise, and put 
them into a roar of laughter. ' The gentleman,* 



A3E 52 PATRICK HENRY. 215 

he c oniinued, ' will, I hope commisserate the 
liisad vantages of education under which I have 
labored, and will be pleased to remember that 
I have never been a favorite with that monarch 
whose gracious smile he has had the happiness 
to enjoy.' 

"He pursued this contrast of situation and 
engagements, for fifteen or twenty minutes, 
without a smile, and without the smallest token 
of resentment, either in countenance, expression, 
or manner. ' You would almost have sworn,' 
says a correspondent, * that he thought himself 
making his apology for his own awkwardness 
oefore a full drawincr-room at St. James.' I be- 
lieve there was not a person that heard him, the 
sufferer himself excepted, who did not feel every 
risible nerve affected. His adversary, meantime, 
hung down his head and, sinking lower and 
lower, until he was almost concealed behind the 
interposing forais, submitted to the discipline as 
quietly as the fiissian malefactor, who had been 
berl."'i witli tiie knout till all sense of feeling was 

t^lLJUt. 



CHAPTER XV. 

Ml Henry declines a re-election to the House, but continues 
tne practice of his profession — His law practice— Anecdotes 
occurring in his law i^ractice— Mr. Roland — John Hook — 

♦ Holland. 

Mr. Henry continued a member of the Vir- 
ginia legislature till the spring of 1791, when he 
declined a re-election with the settled purpose of 
bidding a final adieu to public life. But al- 
though he had withdrawn himself from the po- 
litical field, he continued still to practice his 
profession, appearing, however, only occasional- 
ly, and then on questions of great importance, 
and such as commanded the most weighty tal- 
ents in the state. It is true that he was not, in 
the strictest sense, a great lawyer. He did not 
possess the extensive legal lore for which some 



Age 55. Patrick henry. 217 

of his profession have been so remarkable, nor 
that logical method which is generally regarded 
as necessary to sustain a great argument. But 
notwithstanding these impediments he was still, 
even before the higher courts, remarkably suc- 
cessful as a lawyer, compassing his ends by oth- 
er means, it is true, but still obtaining them with 
as much certainty as more methodic and labori- 
ous minds. 

His greatest legal argument is said to have 
been made in the important casfe of " the British 
debts," in which the whole power of the Virginia 
bar was embarked, and which was discussed with 
so much learning, argument and eloquence, as to 
have placed that bar, in the estimation of the 
federal judges, above all others in the United 
States. This case was argued before Judges 
Johnston and Blair, of the Supreme Court, in 
1791, and afterwards in 1793, before Judges 
Jay and Iredell. On these occasions Mr. Hen- 
ry acquitted himself with marked ability, and on 
the last, for three successive days, held not only 
the court, but a crowded auditory in enchained 
silence and, when he finally sat down, was hail- 
ed with a general murmur of admiration, which 
soon extended through the city and at length 
through every part of the state, which Hterjilly 
rang with the echoes of his eloquent appeal 

T 



218 PATRICK HENRY. 1793 

It was during the course of this argument that 
he retorted so severely upon his opponent, Mr. 
Roland, more by look and action, however, than 
by word. This gentleman w^as a native of Scot- 
land, and was suspected of not having been very 
warmly attached to the American cause. In his 
argument he had objected to the national compe- 
tency of Virginia, at the time when the laws of 
forfeiture and confiscation, under consideration, 
were passed ; and in the course of his observa- 
tions had unfortunately used the remark that 
Virginia was, at that time, nothing more than a 
revolted colony. 

" When," says Mr. Wirt, " Mr. Henry came 
to notice this remark, he gave his spectacles the 
war cant ; ' But,' said he, another observation 
was made — that by the law of nations, we hao 
not a rigid to legislate on the subject of British 
debts — w-e were not an independent nation — and 
and I thought,' continued he, raising himself aloft, 
while his frame dilated beyond the ordinary size, 
' that I heard the word revolt P At this w^ord he 
turned upon Mr. Ronald his piercing eye, and 
knit his brows at him with an expression of in- 
dignation and contempt which seemed almost to 
annihilate him. It was like a stroke of light- 
ning. Mr. Ronald shrunk from the withering 
look and, pale and breathless, cast down hi? 



Age 57. Patrick henry. 219 

eyes, ' seeming,' says my informant, ' to be in 
quest of an auger hole by which he might drop 
through the floor and escape forever from mortal 
sight.' Mr. Henry perceived his suffering, and 
his usual good nature returned to him. He rais- 
ed his eyes gently tovi'ards the court and, shaking 
his head slowly, with an expression of regret, 
added, ^ I wish I had not heard it ; for, although 
innocently meant, yet the sound displeases me — 
it is unpleasant.' " 

Another anecdote connected with Mr. Henry's 
legal practice serves admirably to show with 
w^hat effect he sometimes used his comic talents. 
John Hook, a Scotchman, a man of wealth and, 
withal, suspected of being somewhat tainted with 
tory principles, had been obliged, during the in- 
vasion of Cornwallis in 1781, to part with two 
of his steers to the commissioner of the Ameri- 
can army without his entire consent. The act 
was not strictly legal and, on the establishment 
of peace he brought an action of trespass by the 
advice of his counsel, Mr. Cowan, against the 
commissioner, in the district court of New Lon- 
don. Mr. Henry appeared for the defendant 
and displayed on the occasion more than his 
usual versatility of talent. After stating the 
case to the jury he began to laun^'h out into that 
Md of irony and eloquence which the S'lbjecl 



220 PATRICK HEKllY. l'^«3 

presenlcil to liis mliiJ, antl seemed to lake de- 
light ill playing with the passions of his audi- 
ence. At one time he excited their indignation 
against Hook ; at another, he relaxed into ridi- 
iiule. Now vengeance gleamed in every eye; 
now a tear ; and anon all were convulsed with 
laughter 

He dwelt on the distresses of ihe army ; traced 
them by the blood of their unshod feet, as thev 
marched along the frozen earth ; follow^ed them 
to the battle-fieid, that great altar on which so 
many hecatombs of victims were consecrated to 
American liberty ; and, having wound up the 
feelings of the people to the proper tension, 
" Where," he cried, " is the man having an 
American heart in his bosom, who would not 
have thrown open his fields, his barns, his cellars, 
the doors of his house, the portals of his breast, 
to have received with open arms the meanest 
soldier of that little famished band of patriots 7 
Where is the man ? — There — there he stands — 
but whether the heart of an American beats in 
his bosom, you, gentlemen, are to judge." 

Having gone thus far, he again returned to 
the camp — the camp at Yorktown, the surrender 
of which had taken place soon after the loss of 
Hook's beef, and having painted the siege, the 
fight, the surrender, in the richest imagery of his 



4ge57. PATRICK IIENRY. 221 

own imaginings ; the humiliation of the British as 
they marched out of their trenches ; the triumph 
which Hghted every patriotic eye on that event- 
ful day ; the shouts of victory as they flew from 
rank to rank and from hill to hill, he started as 
from a reverie and cried out, " but hark ! what 
notes of discord are those which disturb the gen- 
eral joy — the silence and acclamations of victo- 
ry ? — They are the notes of John Hook, hoarsely 
bawling through the American camp, beef! 
beef! beef!'^ 

The effect was magical. The suddenness of 
the thought, assisted by Mr. Henry's comic ac- 
tion, threw the whole audience off their guard, 
and the most uproarious scene of merriment en- 
sued. The clerk of the court, in order the better 
to indulge the paroxysm of laughter which had 
seized him, hurried into the yardj where he was 
indulging to the fill, when Hook, who had also 
sought relief from equally oppressed but very 
different feelings, entered the yard also. " Jem- 
my Steptoe," said he, " what the devil ails you, 
mon 1 Ah ! never mind ye ! wait till Billy 
Cowan gets up, he'll show him the la'." 

But Mr. Cowan was in no condition to meet 

such arguments as these. Like the wind of the 

hurricane, they had left behind them sad evidence 

of their power, but to bind them or to fetter them 

t2 



222 PATRICK HENRY. 1793 

was ■ beyond the reach of man. He saw that his 
cause was lost beyond all hope, and under such 
circumstances his effort was so feeble as not even 
to make an impression on the jury. They retired 
for a moment, but immediately brought in a ver- 
dict for the defendant, and poor Hook only saved 
himself from a coat of tar and feathers by a pre- 
cipitate retreat. The cry of " beef! heef! heefl " 
rang through the neighborhood for months, and 
Hook never recovered from the stigma of that un- 
fortunate suit. 

A single other anecdote connected with Mr. 
Henry's law practice shall close our chapter on 
his legal attTriiTTnents and success. We give it 
in the words of one of Mr. Wirt's coiTes'pond- 
ents. " About the year 1792, one Holland kill- 
ed a young man in Boutetourt. The young man 
was popular, and lived, I think, with Mr. King, 
a wealthy merchant in Fincastle, who employed 
Mr. John Brackenridge to assist in the prosecu- 
tion of Holland. This Holland had gone up 
from the county of Louisa as a school-master, 
but had turned out badly, and was unpopular. 
The killing was in the night, and was generally 
believed to be murder. He was the son of one 
Dr. Holland, who was yet living in Louisa, and 
had been one of Mr. Henry's juvenile friends and 
acquaintances. It was chiefly at the instance of 



Age 57. Patrick henry. 223 

the father, and for a very moderate fee, that Mr. 
Henry undertook to go out to the district court 
of Greenbrier to defend the prisoner : and such 
were the prejudices there that the people had 
openly and repeatedly declared that even Pat- 
rick Henry need not come to defend Holland 
unless he brought a jury with him 

" On the day of the trial the court-house was 
crowded. I did not move from my seat for 
fourteen hours, and had no wish to do so. 
Brackenridge was eloquent, but Henry left no 
dry eye in the court-house. The case, I believe. 
Was murder, but there was a possibility that it 
might be manslaughter only. Mr. Henry laid 
hold of this possibility with such effect as to 
make all forget that Holland had killed the store 
keeper at all, and presented the deplorable case 
of the jury killing Holland, an innocent man. 

" By that force of description which he pos- 
sessed in so wonderful a degree, he exhibited, as 
it were, at the clerk's table, old Holland and his 
wife, who were then in Louisa. But the draw- 
ing was so powerful, and so true to nature, that 
we seemed to see them before us and to hear 
them asking of the jury, * Where is our son ? 
What have you done with him ? All this was 
done in a manner so solemn and touching, and a 
tone so irresistable, that it was impossible for 



224 PATRICK HENRY. 1793 

the stoutest heart not to take sides with the 
criminal. As for the jury, they lost sight of the 
murder they were trying and wept most profuse- 
ly with old HoUand and his wife, whom Mr 
iienry painted, and perhaps proved, to be very 
respectable. 

" During the examination of the evidence the 
bloody clothes had been brought in. Mr. Hen- 
ry objected to their exhibition, and applied most 
forcibly and pathetically Anthony's remark on 
Caesar's wounds — those dumb mouths which 
would raise the stones of Rome to mutiny. He 
urged that this sight would totally deprive the 
jury of their judgment, which would be mergec* 
in their feelwgs. The court were divided am 
the motion fell. The result of the trial was, tha< 
after the retirement of half or a quarter of ar 
hour the jury brought in a verdict of not guilty . 
but on being reminded by the court that they 
might find a degree of homicide inferior to mur- 
der, they altered their verdict to ' guilty ofman^ 
slaughter.'' " 



CHAPTER XVI. 

Mr. Henry retires Irom all public employments — His domes- 
tic habits and pleasures — Anecdote— Washington offers him 
the office of Secretary of State — Letter to Mr. Lee — Wash- 
ington's letter — Appointed envoy to France — Is solicited 
by Washington to take part in the public councils of Vir- 
ginia. 

But while we delight to follow Mr. Henry 
through his briUiant career — fitted as he was to 
buffet the waves of the political sea, to guide 
the ark of state through the tempest-tossed 
billows, and to stand forth, the spirit of the 
storm, now riding fearlessly on its tempestuous 
wings, and now braving with superhuman en- 
ercry its wildest fury — we must not forget, in 
the exuberance of his public fame and the 
fulness of his public honors, that he was a 



226 PATRICK HENRY. 1794 

son, a husband, a father ; and that in his pri- 
vate relations his hfe was as spotless as his pub- 
lic career was glorious. 

While his nanie was wafted over the continent, 
encircled, as it were, in a halo of glory, and the 
thunder of his eloquence shook to its centre the 
power of the British throne, he was incessantly 
struggling with pecuniary embarrassments, and 
contending against those freaks of fortune which 
we have seen oppressing him in early youth. 
Now, however, his circumstances had not only 
become easy, but in consequence of some judi- 
cious purchases of land, he suddenly found him- 
self possesed of wealth and, that he might the bet- 
ter enjoy the quiet of his declining years, he bade 
a final adieu, in 1794, to his profession and, in 
the bosom of his family, indulged that love of 
ease for which he had so keen a relish in every 
st?ition of life. 

He retired loaded with honors and carried 
with him the admiration, confidence, and love of 
his country. For more than thirty years he had 
stood before the public in the most prominent 
situations ; had been a member of the house of 
burgesses, of the first and second Congress, of 
the various conventions, state and national ; had 
been at the head of the Virginia troops ; had 
conducted the first military movement of his 



Age 58. Patrick henry. 221 

(State ; had officiated for five years as governor ; 
and in all these positions had shunned no re 
sponsibility, played no second part : yet he lef : 
the field in the full tide of his popularity, without 
spot or blemish, unincumbered with suspi 
cions, and bearing with him the gratitude am 
affection of a great people. 

It is a pleasing task to follow such a man as Mr 
Henry from the stage of the great world on which 
he played so prominent a part, to those simple 
scenes of domestic life, where his greatness availed 
him nothing, and where the affections hold their 
undivided empire. " Nothing," says Mr. Wirt, 
" can be more amiable, nothing more interesting 
and attaching, than those pictures which have 
been furnished from every quarter, without one 
dissentient stroke of the pencil, of this great and 
virtuous man in the bosom of private life. His 
disposition was all sweetness ; his affections were 
warm, kind and social ; his patience invincible ; 
his temper ever unclouded, cheerful and serene ; 
his manners plain, open, familiar, and simple ; 
his conversation easy, ingenuous, and unaffected ; 
full of entertainment, full of instruction, and ir- 
radiated with all those light and softer graces 
which his genius threw, without an effort, over 
the most common subjects." 

Fitted thus for the enjoyment of domestic life. 



228 PATRICK HENRY. 1794 

we may readily suppose that Mr. Henry's coun- 
try residence was the abode of virtue and con- 
tentment, and that here, in elegant retirement, 
his days passed hke a pleasing dream, enlivened 
by a large circle of bosom friends, and the fre- 
quent visits of the great and good. By his two 
marriages he was the father of fifteen children. 
Of the six which he had by his first wife, tw^o 
only surviyed; but those by his second wife, 
consisting of six sons and three daughters, were 
still around him, and constituted his highest 
source of satisfaction. He was a most indulgent 
parent, and imposed on his children few of those 
restraints which are generally believed to be so 
salutary in the slippery period of youth. Still, 
notwithstanding the loose character of his fami- 
ly discipline, his children were all finally well 
educated, and occupied respectable stations in 
life. 

In his family, his manners were familiar and 
free. He delighted to join in the simple sports 
of his children, and has frequently been caught 
by his visiters lying on the floor with a group oi 
little ones climbing over him with obstreperous 
mirth, or dancing around him at the sound of his 
violin, in all the frolicsome glee of unrestrained 
childhood. It is said, too, that he was wont to 
assemble around him, during the long summer 



Age 59. Patrick henry. 229 

evenings, together with his affectionate and hap- 
py family, a large circle of his friends and neigh- 
bors, and under the shade of a hickory tree 
which graced the court before his door, contrib- 
ute to their amusement by that fund of pleasant- 
ry and anecdote which, during his Avhole life, 
proved so inexhaustable. To his wife, to his 
children, to his servants, he w^as all patience, 
forbearance, and kindness. That lofty and man- 
ly spirit which had given edge and temper to 
the resistance of a nation was subdued into the 
blandest sweetness in the family circle, where the 
forgiving mildness of his spirit was as remarka- 
ble as its independent boldness had been in pub- 
lic life. 

He was at all times highly social in his disposi- 
tion, and very fond of a story and a jest. As a 
specimen of his light and good natured pleasantry, 
his biographer furnishes this example. Mr. Hen- 
ry had been invited, together with Mr. R. H. 
Lee, and several conspicuous members of the 
assembly to spend the evening and night at the 
house of Edmund Randolph, near Richmond. 
Mr. Lee, who was as brilliant in conversation as 
in debate, had dwelt at much length on the 
merits of Cervantes as a writer, and particularly 
on his master-piece, Don Quixote. The con- 
versatian took place at a late hour and Mr. 
u 



230 PATRICK HENRY. 1795 

Lee's dissertation having been continued perhaps 
tOO long, the company began to yawn. Mr. 
Henry having observed this, rose slowly from 
nis chair, and remarked as he walked across the 
room that Don Quixote was certainly a most ex- 
cellent work, and most skilfully adapted to the 
purpose of the author ; " but," he continued, 
stopping before Mr. Lee, with a most significant 
archness of look, " you have overlooked in yDur 
eulogy one of the finest things in the book." 
" What is that ?" asked Mr. Lee. " It is," said 
Mr. Henry, " that divine exclamation of Sancho, 
* Blessed he the man that first invented sleep ; it 
covers one all over like a cloak.'' " Mr. Lee took 
the hint, and the company broke up in good hu- 
mor. 

Mr. Henry's retreat in Charlotte county was 
called " Red Hill," and his high reputation, as 
well as his well known social qualities, attracted 
to it great numbers of persons, whom he enter- 
tained with that ease, dignity, and generous hos- 
pitality, which we should naturally expect from 
such a character. He was plain in his person, 
unostentatious in his manners, and simple in his 
general style of living ; but his heart was open 
to all the advances of friendship, and his highest 
enjoyments were centred in the social coitre 
which met around his fireside. 



Age 59. Patrick henry. 237 

During Mr. Henry's , retirement several at> 
tempts were made to call him back to public 
life. The times now began to wear a more 
threatning aspect ; parties were forming with a 
degree of strength and asperity hitherto un- 
known ; and the influence of Mr. Henry's name 
and character as well as the aid of his vigorous 
mind, were deemed of the greatest importance 
to the public councils. The embassy to Spain, 
Mr. Wirt informs us, had been offered to him 
during Washington's first administration. A 
strong desire was also manifested to bring him 
into the cabinet, and on the resignation of Ed- 
mund Randolph, the state department was tendered 
to him by Gen. Washington. 

It would seem from Washington's letter that 
he had long contemplated making some such of- 
fer to Mr. Henry, but was deterred by his known 
opposition to the constitution and his supposed 
opposition to the administration. A letter from 
Mr. Henry to Gen. Lee, was the means of remo- 
ving these difficulties. Mr. Lee had performed 
the friendly office of communicating to Mr. 
Henry one of the President's letters, in which 
Mr. Henry was spoken of with commendation, 
and in reply to it he explained at some length 
his position as it regarded the new government 
and the President. This letter is so material to a 



232 PATRICK HENRY. 1795 

correct understanding of Mr. Henry's subsequent 
course that we shall give it a place at length. 

" Red Hill, 27th June, 1795.— My Dear Sir 
Your very friendly communication of so much ol 
the President's letter as relates to me, demands 
my sincere thanks. Retired as I am from the 
busy world, it is still grateful to me to know 
that some portion of regard remains for me 
amongst my countrymen, especially those of 
them whose opinions I most value. But the es- 
teem of that personage who is contemplated in 
this correspondence, is highly flattering indeed. 

" Th-e American Revolution was the grand 
operation which seemed to be assigned by the 
Deity to the men of this age in our country, 
over and above th^ common duties of life. I 
ever prized, at a high rate, the superior privi- 
' lege of being one in that chosen age to which 
Providence entrusted its favorite work. With 
this impression, it was impossible for me to resist 
the impulse I felt to contribute my mite towards 
accomplishing that event, which in future will 
give a superior aspect to the men of these times 
To the man, especially, who led our armies, will 
that aspect belong ; and it is not in nature, foi 
one with my feelings, to revere the Revolution 
without including him who stood foremost in it 
establisment. 



Age 59 Patrick henry 2J3 

" Every insinuation that taught me to belie\ e 
( had forfeited the good will of that personage, 
to whom the world had agreed to ascribe the 
appellation of good and great must needs give 
rne pain, particularly as he had opportunities 
of knowing ray character both in public and 
private life. The intimation now^ given me, that 
there was no ground to believe I had incurred 
his censure, gives me very great pleasure. 

" Since the adoption of the present constitu- 
tion, I have generally moved in a narrow circle. 
But in tha4 circle I have never omitted to inculcate 
a strict adherence to its principles, and I have the 
satisfaction to think that in no part of the Union 
have the law^s been more pointedly obeyed than 
in that where I have resided and spent my time. 
Projects, indeed, of a contrary tendency have 
been hinted to me, but the treatment of the pro- 
jectors has been such as to prevent all intercourse 
with them for a long time. Although a demo- 
crat myself, I like not the late democratic socie- 
ties. (As little do I like their suppression by 
lawy Silly things may amuse for a while, but 
in a little time men will perceive their delusions. 
The w^ay to preserve in men's minds a value for 
<^hem is to enact laws against them. 

" My present views are to spend my days in 
privacy. If, however, it shall please God so to 
u2 



234 PATRICK HENRY. 1795 

order the course of events as to render my feeble 
efforts necessary for the safety of the country in 
any, even the smallest degree, that little which 
I can do shall be done. Whenever you may 
have an opportunity I shall be much obliged by 
your presenting my best respects and duty to the 
President, assuring him of my gratitude for his fa- 
vorable sentiments towards me." 

In the following October, President Washing- 
ton tendered him the place of which we have 
spoken. It had previously been offered to Judge 
Patterson, Mr. Johnson of Maryland, and Charles 
Cotesworth Pinckney of South Carolina, all of X 
whom had declined it. hi a letter to Mr. Car- 
rington, Gen. Washington says; "1 would have 
made the offer of it to Mr. Henry in the first in- 
stance, but two reasons were opposed to it : first, 
ignorance of his political sentiments ; for I should 
consider it an act of governmental suicide to 
bring a man into so high an office who was un- 
friendly to the constitution and laws; and sec- 
ondly, because I had no idea that he would ac- 
cept the office, until Gen. Lee gave som-e reasons 
which have induced me in a degree to draw a 
different conclusion, he having assured me7"at the 
same time, that he believed Mr. Henry's senti- 
ments relative to the constitntion were changed, and 
that his opinion of the government was friendly." 



Age 59. Patrick heney. 236 

The letter of President Washington to Mr. 
Henry is as follows : — 

''Mount Vernon, October 9th, 1795. — Dear 
Sir: — Whatever may be the reception of this 
letter, truth and candor shall mark its steps. 
You doubtless know that the office of State is 
vacant ; and no one can be more sensible than 
yourself of the importance of filling it with a 
person of abilities, and one in whom the public 
would have' confidence. 

" It would be uncandid not to inform you that 
this office has been offered to others ; but it is as 
true that it was from a conviction in my own 
mind that you would not accept it, (until Tues- 
day last, in a conversation with General Lee, 
who dropped sentiments which made it less 
doubtful,) that it was not offered to you first. 

" T need scarcely add that if this appointment 
could be made to comport with your own incli- 
nations, it would be as pleasing to me as I believe 
it would be acceptable to the public. With this 
assurance and with this belief, I make you the 
offer of it. My first wish is that you would ac- 
cept it ; the next is, that you would be so good 
as to give me an answer as soon as you conven- 
iently can, as the public business in that depart- 
ment is now suffering for want of a secretary. 

" I persuade myself, sir, it has not escaped 



236 PATRICK HENRY. 1795 

jour otservation that a crisis is approaching that 
must, if it cannot be arrested, soon decide wheth- 
er order and good government shall be preserved, 
or anarchy and confusion ensue. I can most re- 
ligiously aver, I have no wish that is incom- 
patible with the dignity, happiness and true in- 
terest of this country. My ardent desire is, and 
my aim has been, as far as depended on the ex- 
ecutive department, to comply strictly with all 
our engagements, foreign and domestic ; but to 
keep the United States free from political con- 
nexions with any other country; to see them 
independent of all and under the influence of none. 
In a word, I want an American character, that 
the powers of Europe may be convinced that we 
act for ourselves, and not for others. This, in 
my judgment, is the only way to be respected 
abroad and happy at home ; and not by becora- 
* ing the partizans of Great Britain or France, cre- 
ate dissensions, disturb the pubhc tranquility, and 
destroy, perhaps forever, the cement which binds 
the Union. 

" I am satisfied that these sentiments cannot 
oe otherwise than congenial to your own. Your 
aid, therefore, in carrying them into effect, would 
be flattering and pleasing to, dear sir, &c." 

The answer to this letter, Mr. Sparks informs 
us, is not found among Washington's papers. 



Age 60. Patrick henky. 237 

It is only known that he declined the proffered 
offer. Mr. Carrington, who was made the agent 
in tendering this place to Mr. Henry, and who 
inclosed his answer to the President, informs us 
what was his position at that time in relation to 
Mr. Jay's treaty, which was one of the dividing 
questions among the politicians of that period. 
He says : — ^' It gives us pleasure to find that 
although Mr. Henry is rather to be understood 
as probably not an approver of the treaty, his 
conduct and sentiments generally, both as to the 
government and yourself, are such as we calcu- 
lated on, and that he received your letter with 
impressions which assure us of his discountenan- 
cing calumny of every description." 

The efforts to draw Mr. Henry back to the 
public councils did not stop here. The power 
which he exerted over the minds of men, and the 
consequent influence which he was known to 
possess in his native state, made him an object to 
be courted by both the great political parties 
which were now organizing w^ith a rancor and 
asperity which have since never been equalled 
in the republic. In November, 1796, he Avas 
again elected governor of Virginia, which he also 
declined accepting. His letter to the Speaker 
of the House of delegates on that occasion we 
subjoin. 



238 ATRICK HENRY. 179£ 

" Charlotte County, JVo'i>emher 21th, 1796. — 
Sir : — I have just received the honor of yours, 
informing me of my appointment to the chie? 
magistracy of the commonwealth ; and I have 
to beg the favor of you, sir, to convey to the gen- 
eral assembly my best acknowledgements and 
warmest gratitude for the signal honor they have 
conferred on me. I should be happy if I coulc 
persuade myself that my abilities were commen- 
surate to the duties of that office ; but my de- 
clining years warn me of my inability. I beg 
leave, therefore, to decline the appointment, and 
\o hope and trust that the general assembly wilJ 
be pleased to excuse me for doing so, as no doubt 
can be entertained that many of my fellow citi- 
zens possess the requisite abilities for this high 
trust." 

Early m the year 1799, President Adorns 
having received intimations through Mr. Murray, 
the American Minister in Holland, thcit " what- 
ever plenipotentiary the government of the Uni- 
ted States might send to France to put an end 
to the existing differences between the two 
countries" would be well received, he proposed 
to appoint Mr. Murray to that office, but subse- 
quently changed his plan and substituted three 
envoys, viz: Oliver Ellsworth, Patrick Henry, 
n*id William Van Murray to be envoys extraor- 



A3e62. PATRICK HENRY. 239 

dmary and ministers plenipotentiary to the 
French republic. They were nominated on the 
25th of Februaiy, and the nomination was im 
mediately confirmed by the Senate. Mr. Hen 
ry's letter to the Secretary of Stale, declining 
the appointment, is as follows. 

" C/mrloUe County, April iGth, 1799.— Sir :— 
Your favor of the 25th ultimo did not reach mt 
till two days ago. I have been confined for 
several weeks by a severe indisposition, and am 
still so sick as to be scarcely able to write this. 
My advanced age and increasinf^ debility com- 
pel me to abandon every ide-i of serving rry 
country where the scene of operation is far dis- 
tant, and her interests aW for incessant and 
long-continued exertiop Conscious as I am of 
my inability to discharge the duties of envoy to 
France, to which, by the commission you send 
me, I am called, I herewith return it. 

" I cannot, however, forbear expressing, on 
this occasion, the high sense of the honor done 
me by the President and senate, in the appoint- 
ment ; and I beg of you, sir, to present me to 
them in terms of the most dutiful regard, assu- 
ring them that this mark of their confidence in 
me, at a crisis so eventtul, is a very agreeable 
and flattering proof of their consideration to- 
wards me 3 and that nothing short of absolute 



240 PATRICX HENRY. 179Q 

necessity could induce me to withhold my little 
\id from an administration, whose abilities, pat- 
iotism, and virtue, deserve the gratitude and 
reverence of all their fellow citizens. With 
sentiments of very high regard, I am, &c." 

In the beginning of 1799, Mr. Henry also re- 
ceived a letter from Gen. Washington, pressing 
him with unfeigned earnestness to suffer himself, 
in the tlireatning aspect of the times, to be re- 
turned, either to the next Congress or to the 
Virginia legislature. Party spirit was now ra- 
ffing with unmitigated violence, and our foreign 
••elations w^ore a most gloomy appearance. 
Washington and several other patriots of the 
fame school we: ^ seriously apprehensive that 
ihe foundations of society were about to be 
•ansettled, and that anarchy and confusion were 
lOon to take the place of order and government. 
After having stated these apprehensions to Mr. 
Henry in strong terms, he sa}/s : — 

"I come now, my good sir, to the object of 
my letter, which is to express a hope and an 
earnest wish that you will come forward at the 
ensuing elections, (if not for Congress, which 
you may think would take you too long from 
home,) as a candidate for representative in the 
general assembly of this commonwealth. 

" Your weight of character and influence in 



Age 62. Patrick tieney, 241 

tlie House of Representatives [Virginia] would 
be a bulwark against sueh dangerous sentiment 
as are delivered there at present. It would be a 
rallying point for the timid, and an attractior. 
to the wavering. In a word, I conceive it to be 
of immense importance at this crisis that you 
should be there ; and I would fain hope that all 
minor considerations will be made to yield to the 
measure." 

All these strong solicitations, unless it may 
be the last, were unavailing. Mr. Henry seems 
to have been bent on enjoying his retirement 
unless the most imperious necessity demanded a 
sacriHce of it to the pubhc good. We shall see 
in the next chapter that when, in his judgment 
that time arrived, he did not long hesitate be- 
tween duty and inclination. 



CHAPTER XVII. 

^',aie of parties — France — Genet— Position of the government 
— Letter of Mr. Henry to his daughter — His prescience — 
Mr. Henry's political views — Letter to Mr. Blair — Presents 
himself to the polls as a candidate for the house of dele- 
gates — Death. 

The country was now rapidly verging towards 
the great political revolution of 1801. The 
second term of Washington's administration was 
exceedingly stormy, and the political elements 
continued in hot commotion. The timely aid 
afforded by France in our revolutionary quarrel 
had given that country a strong hold on the af- 
fections of America, and when she threw off the 
yoke of the Bourbons, and espoused those liberal 
principles which had taken such deep root in 
America, the enthusiasm in her favor throughout 



AiJE GO. PATRICK HENRY. 243 

the United States became deep and general, and 
the people on every side burned to take part 
with her against Great Britain, from whom they 
had recently suffered so much. 

From the moment that the new constitution 
was adopted, men began, as if by elective at- 
traction to aggregate into distinct parties and, 
after the resignation of JMr. Jefferson, those 
statesmen who had been most active in advoca- 
ting large grants of pow'er to the central gov- 
ernment were chiefly retained in the confidence 
of the President and influenced the councils of 
the nation. On the other hand, those who had 
seen in the constitution an approach to the kingly 
models of the old world, soon became jealous of 
the course of legislation and policy which follow- 
ed its adoption, and thought they saw in the es- 
tablishment of the funding system, the assump- 
tion of the state debts, and the establishment of 
a National Bank, a disposition to strengthen still 
further the central government, and bring it 
nearer to the Biitish model. 

In the midst of these jealousies came the as- 
tounding news from France. The nation had 
armed in favor of liberty ; Louis was deposed, 
condemned, beheaded ; and the nation sought 
countenance and aid from its late friends on 
this side the ocean. The" shock thrilled on the 



9A4: PATRICK HENRY. 1793 

iierv^es of the Americans like electricity, and ev- 
ery bosom heaved with sympathy from one end 
of the republic to the other. To make the mat- 
ter worse, France had declared war against 
Great Britain, and asked the friendly co-opera- 
tion of the United States. 

The situation of Washington became delicate 
in the extreme, and it required all the exertion 
of his wonderful discretion to preserve his coun- 
try from plunging headlong into another ruinous 
war. In such an emergency he was not the 
man to hesitate between popularity and duty 
He interposed the shield of his mighty influence, 
and although for a time public confidence in him 
was somewhat shaken, yet posterity has fully 
vindicated his conduct. He issued his procla- 
mation " forbidding the citizens of the United 
States to take part in any hostilities on the seas, 
either w^th or against the belligerent powers," 
and " enjoining them to refrain from all acts and 
proceedings inconsistent with the duties of a 
friendly nation towards those at war." 

Then came the minister of the new French 
repubhc, Genet, with all the fire and ardor of a 
new convert. He was received with the most 
extravagant marks of enthusiasm, and when he 
found himself thwarted by the policy of Wash- 
ington, set about fanning the discontents of the 



Age 60. Patrick henry. 245 

people, and organizing a party in favor of 
France. To cap the climax of all these fortui- 
tous events the treaty of 1794, concluded with 
England, and commonly known as Mr. Jay's 
treaty, arrived, and was to be annulled or sanc- 
tioned by the government. This treaty was 
thought by many to have yielded too much to 
Great Britain : it was consequently attacked 
with great violence ; the minister was abused ; 
the motives of the party advocating it were se- 
verely scrutinized; and as Washington, under 
all the circumstances, had determined to give it 
his sanction, the opposition to his administration 
soon assumed a formidable aspect. 

It will be seen at a glance that there was a 
concurrence of circumstances which could not 
fail to be exceedingly prejudicial to the adminis 
tration. The early opponents of the constitution 
had contended that the powers of the central 
government would be enlarged by the manner in 
w^hich that instrument was construed, and they 
beheved that the course of legislation had fully 
justified their fears. They were now startled on 
another point. The administration had confirm- 
ed the treaty with England, while it held our 
former friend and ally at a distance; it seemed 
to evmce a greater predilection for the kingly 
government of Great Britain than for that of re- 
v2 



246 PATRICK HENRY. 1796 

publican France ; and it was boldly asserted 
that those who administered the government 
were striving to bring it still nearer the standard 
of monarchy. The fears of the people were 
aroused ; the opposition assumed a bolder aspect ; 
the measures of those in power were discussed 
■with great asperity ; the opponents of the gov- 
ernment, who styled themselves democrats, form- 
ed themselves into societies thj-oughout the coun- 
try ; and in many places tbe peopk were almost 
in open insurrection. 

While this commotion shook the continent 
from one end to the other, Mr. Henry remained 
at " Red Hill," and took no part whatever in 
public affairs. Removed at a distance from the 
strife, he probably surveyed it with a more im- 
partial eye than those who were so near as to 
be drawn into its vortex. He appears to have 
found something to approve and something to 
condemn in the proceedings of both parties. In 
his letter to Gen. Lee, he says : — "Although a 
democrat myself, I like not the late democratic 
societies. As little do I like their suppression 
by law\" The fierceness with which the war was 
waged against the administration evidently met 
his strong disapprobation. " It is more than 
probable," he says, in a letter to Mr. Blair, in 
1799, " that certain leaders meditate a change 



I 



Age 60. Patrick henry. 247 

in government. To effect this, I see no way so 
practicable as a dissolution of the confederacy ; 
and I am free to own that, in my judgment, 
most of the measures lately pursued by the op- 
position party, directly and certainly lead to that 
end." 

Still Mr. Henry, so late as 1796, denies hav- 
ing changed his political ground, although it 
appears that rumors were afloat to that effect, 
and that he was even branded with the name ol 
tory. In a letter to his daughter, who had writ- 
ten to him of these rumors, he explains himself 
very fully, and for this, as well as for other rea- 
sons, his letter will be read with interest. We 
shall therefore copy it entire 

'^Red Hill, August 20, 1796.— My Dear 
Betsy : — As to the reports you have heard of 
my changing sides in politics, I can only say 
they are not true. I am too old to change my 
former opinions, which have grown up into fixed 
habits of thinking. True it is, I have condemn- 
ed the conduct of our members of Congress, be- 
cause, in refusing to raise money for the purpo- 
ses of the British treaty, they in effect, would 
have surrendered our country, bound hand and 
foot, to the power of the British nation. This 
must have been the consequence, I think ; but 
the reasons for thinking so are too tedious to 



248 PATRICK HENRY. 1796 

trouble you with. The treaty is, in my opinion, 
a very bad one indeed. But what must I think 
of those men whom I myself warned of the 
danger of giving the power of making laws, by 
means of treaty, to the President and senate, 
when I see these same men denying the exist- 
ence of that power, which they insisted in our 
convention, ought properly to be exercised by 
the President and senate, and by no other ? The 
policy of these men, both then and now, appears 
to me quite void of wisdom and foresight. These 
sentiments I did mention in conversation at 
Richmond, and perhaps others which I don't re- 
member j but sure 1 am, my first principle is, 
that from the British we have every thing to 
dread, when opportunities of oppressing us shall 
offer. 

" It seems that every word was watched which 
I casually dropped, and wrested to answer party 
views. Who can have been so meanly employ- 
ed, I know not, nor do I care ; for I no longer 
consider myself an actor on the stage of public 
life. It is time for me to retire ; and I shall 
never more appear in a public character, unless 
some unlocked for circumstance shall demand 
from me a transient etlort, not inconsistent with 
private life, in which I have determined to con- 
tinue. I see with concern our old commander- 



A.GE60. PATRICK HENRY. 249 

in-chief most abusively treated ; nor are his 
many and great services remembered as any 
apology for his mistakes in an office to which he 
was totally unaccustomed. 

" If he, whose character as our leader during 
the whole war was above all praise, is so rough- 
ly handled in his old age, what may be expected 
of men of the common standard of character 7 1 
ever wished he might keep himself clear of the 
office he bears, and its attendant difficulties j 
but I am sorry to see the gross abuse which is 
published of him. 

" Thus, my dear daughter, have I pestered 
you with a long letter on politics, which is a sub- 
ject little interesting to you, except as it may in- 
volve my reputation. I long ago learned the 
little value of popularity, acquired by any other 
way than that of virtue, and I have also learned 
that it is often acquired by other means. The 
view which the rising greatness of our country 
presents to my eyes, is greatly tarnished by the 
general prevalence of deism, which, with me, is 
but another name for vice and depravity. I am, 
however, much consoled by reflecting that the 
religion of Christ has, from its first appearance 
in the world been attacked in vain by all the 
wits, philosophers and wise ones, aided by every 
power of man, and its triumph has been com- 



250 PATRICK HENRY. 1796 

plete. What is there in the wit or wisdom ol 
the present deistical writers or professors that 
can compare them with Hume, Shaflsbury, Bol- 
ingbroke and others ; and yet these have been 
confuted, and their fame is decaying, insomuch 
that the puny efforts of Paine are thrown in to 
prop their tottering fabric, w^hose foundations 
cannot stand the test of time. 

" Among other strange things said of me, I 
near it is said by the deists that I am one oi 
their number ; and, indeed, that some good peo- 
ple think I am no Christian. This thought 
gives me much more pain than the appellation 
of tory, because I think religion of infinitely 
higher importance than politics, and I find much 
cause to reproach myself that I have lived so 
long and have given no decided and public 
proofs of my being a Christian. But, indeed, 
my dear child, this is a character which I prize 
far above all this world has, or can boast. And 
among all the handsome things I hear said ol 
you, what gives me the greatest pleasure is, to 
be told of your piety and steady virtue. Be as- 
sured there is not one tittle, as to disposition or 
character, in which my parental affection for 
you would suffer a wish for your changing, and 
it flatters my pride to have you spoken of as you 
are. 



Age 60. Patrick henry. 251 

"Perhaps Mr. Roane and Anne may have 
heard the reports you mention. If it will be any 
object with them to see what I write you, show 
them this. But my wish is to pass the rest of 
my days, as much as may be, unobserved by the 
critics of the world, who would show but little 
sympathy for the deficiencies to which old age 
is liable. May God bless you, my dear Betsy, 
and your children." 

This letter exhibits Mr. Henry's character in 
a very pleasing light. Besides the admirable 
sentiments on the subject of religion, it shows, 
what indeed we think is abundantly evident from 
his whole life, that he could not be confined 
within the narrow limits of any party. The ele- 
gant Macauley observes that, as the sun illumi- 
nates the tops of the hills while it is still below 
the horizon, so truth is discovered by the highest 
minds before it becomes manifest to the multi- 
tude. This remark applies with peculiar fitness 
to Mr. Henry. His prescience was so remarka- 
ble as sometimes to appear like a superhuman 
gift, and it gave him the same advantage over 
other minds that the telescope gives the eye of 
the astromomer over other eyes. He saw the 
tendency of measures and the results of human 
actions at a glance; and, firm in his principles 
and honest in his intentions, he boldly follow^ed 



252 PATRICK HENRY. 1799 

the lead which his judgment thus clearly point- 
ed out. 

So early as 1798, when the rising fame ol 
Napoleon began to attract the observation of the 
world, and many on this side of the Atlantic re- 
garded him as the Washington of the French 
republic, Mr. Henry observed in a public compa- 
ny, and with that impressive shake of his head 
which was peculiar to his manner when his mind 
was made up : — ^" It won't all do ! The present 
generation in France is so debased by a long 
despotism, and they possess so few of the virtues 
which constitute the life and soul of republican- 
ism, that they are incapable of forming a correct 
and just estimate o^ rational liberty. Their rev- 
olution will terminate differently from what you 
expect ; their state of anarchy will be succeeded 
by despotism ; and I should' not be surprised if 
the very moDi at whose victories you now rejoice, 
should, Csesar-like, subvert the liberties of his 
country." 

With these views of the French Revolution, 
and surveying at a distance the excesses indulged 
by that party with which his former course had 
partly identified him, he was constrained at length 
to yield to the solicitations of his friends and suffer 
himself to be a candidate once more for a seat in 
the state legislature. How far the urgent ap- 



1 



Age 62. Patrick henry. 253 

peal of Washington, already alluded to, may 
have influenced him, or what were the particular 
motives which shook his strong resolution never 
again to mingle in the stirring scenes of public 
life, it is impossible now to determine. 

As it regards his political views, there can, we 
think, scarcely remain a doubt that they leaned 
at this time rather towards the federal side. 
The anarchy which prevailed in the republic of 
France ; her interference in American politics ; 
the prevalence of French infidelity ; the organi- 
zation of the democratic societies; the abuse 
heaped upon public men whom he regarded as 
honest and pure, all tended to excite his disgust, 
and caused him to take ground with those who 
professed to be contending only for the observ- 
ance of the laws and the preservation of order. 
In his letter to Mr. Blair, written in January, 
1799, he says : — 

" The wide extent to which the present con- 
tentions have gone, will scarcely permit any ob- 
server to see enough in detail to enable him to 
form any thing like a tolerable judgment on the 
final result, as it may respect the nations in gen- 
eral. But as to France, I have no doubt in say- 
ing that to her it will be calamitous. Her con- 
duct has been such as to make it the interest of 
the great family of mankind to wish the down- 
w 



254 PATRICK HENRY. 1799 

fall of her present government, because its exis- 
tence is incompatible with all others within its 
reach. And whilst I see the dangers that threat- 
en ours from her intrigues and her arms, I am 
not so much alarmed as at the apprehension of 
her destroying the great pillars of all government 
and of social life ; I mean virtue, morality, and 
religion. 

" This is the armor, my friend, and this alone, 
that renders us invincible. These are the tactics 
we should study. If we lose these we are con- 
quered, fallen indeed. In vain may France 
show and vaunt her diplomatic skill, and brave 
troops ; so long as our manners and principles 
remain sound there is no danger. But believing, 
as I do, that these are in danger ; that infidehty, 
in its broadest sense, under the name of philoso- 
phy, is fast spreading; and that, under the pat- 
ronage of French manners and principles, every 
thing that ought to be dear to man is covertly, 
but successfully assailed, I feel the value of those 
men amongst us who hold out to the world the 
idea that our continent is to exhibit an original^ 
ity of character ;* and that, instead of that imi- 
tation and inferiority which the countries of the 
old world have been in the habit of exacting 

* This passage seems evidently to allude to Washington, 
and the leading supporters of his adnninistration. See page 23G. 



Age 6^. Patrick henry. 255 

from the new, we shall maintain that high 
ground upon which nature has placed us, and 
Europe will alike cease to rule us and give us 
modes of thinking." 

With such views as these, Mr. Henry present- 
ed himself to the citizens of Charlotte county, at 
the spring election of 1799, as a candidate for 
the Virginia house of delegates. On the day oi 
election, as soon as he appeared at the polls, he 
was affectionately surrounded by the crowd, and 
whithersoever he moved, the concourse followed 
Mr. Wirt informs us that a Baptist preacher, who 
was shocked at such homage paid to a mere 
mortal, asked the people aloud, " Why they thus 
followed Mr. Henry about 1 " Mr. Henry," said 
he, " is not a god !" *' No," said Mr. Henry, in 
reply, deeply affected both by the scene and the 
remark ; " no, indeed, my friend ; I am but a 
poor worm of the dust, as fleeting and unsub- 
stantial as the shadow of the cloud that flies 
over your field and is remembered no more." 

Before the polls were opened he addressed the 
assembly with his usual warmth and fervor, and 
concluded by declaring that, if elected, he should 
exert himself in endeavoring to allay the heart- 
burnings and jealousies which had been fomented 
in the state legislature, and praying that, if he 
was deemed unworthy to effect it, that it might 



S56 PATRICK HENUy. 1799 

be reserved to some other and abler hand to ex- 
tend this blessing over the community. When 
his speech was concluded the polls were opened, 
and he was elected by his usual commanding 
majority. 

It having been generally known that Mr. Hen- 
ry was once more to take a seat in the house of 
delegates, the most formidable preparations were 
made to oppose him by the democratic party, 
who had returned some of their strongest men, 
among whom was Mr. Madison, since one of the 
Presidents of the United States, besides a host 
of less distinguished statesmen, who, together, 
constituted a decided majority of the House. 
" But Heaven in its mercy saved him from 
the unequal conflict." His health had been 
gradually declining since the year 1796, and on 
the sixth of June, 1799, he took his final leave 
of the scene of his conflicts, his glrry, and his 
renown, aged 63 years and 8 days. 

" Thus," to use the elegant language of Mr. 
"Wirt, " lived and died the celebrated Patrick 
Henry ; a man who justly deserves to be rankea 
among the highest ornaments and noblest bene- 
factors of his country. Had his lot been cast in 
the republics of Greece or Rome, his name 
would have been enrolled by some immortal pen 
among the expellers of tyrants and the champi- 



Age 63. Patrick henry. 257 

ons of liberty ; the proudest monuments ol 
national gratitude would have risen to his 
honor, and handed down his name to future 
generations.'* 



m 



CHAPTER XVIII. 

Mr. Henry's character, person, manners, eloquence, &c. Jte. 

Of the circumstances attending Mr. Henry's 
last illness, little is known. It will be readily 
inferred, however, from some passages in his let- 
ter to his daughter, already quoted, that, in his 
last moments, he did not neglect to seek the con- 
solations of religion. To a friend who found 
him engaged in reading his Bible, he observed, 
holding up the volume : — " Here is a book worth 
more than all the other books that ever were 
printed; yet it is my misfortune never to have 
found time to read it with the proper attention 
and feeling, till lately. I trust in the mercy of 
Heaven that it is not yet too late." His conver- 
sation was always remarkably chaste and pure 



PATRICK HENRY. 25S 

He never swore, and was never heard to take the 
name of his Maker in vain. His morals were also 
otherwise strict. He was kind and hospitable 
to the stranger ; friendly and accommodating to 
his neighbors ; fair in his dealings ; faithful to 
his word ; and punctual in his contracts to the 
utmost of his power. 

Mr. Henry was nearly six feet high, had a 
slight stoop, and was rather spare. His com- 
plexion was dark ; his countenance grave ; his 
eyes, overhang by long, dark lashes and full eye 
brows, were brilliant, full of spirit, rapid in their 
motion, and powerful in their expression. His 
forehead was high a-nd straight ; the part to 
which phrenologists assign the organs of percep- 
tion projecting so much as to give it a consider- 
able angle ; his nose somewhat of the Roman 
stamp; his whole face remarkable for its ex- 
pression and, when it was under the excitement 
of some strong sentiment or powerful feeling, 
radiant with intellectual light 

Mr. Henry's eloquence was of the bold and 
masculine class, and appears to have been al- 
ways under the control o^ his judgment. His 
delivery was easy and natural ; his action free 
and always exactly suited to the sentiment which 
he was uttering, but never thrown away on an 
unimportant thought; his language copious, 



260 PATRICK HENRY. 

well chosen, and smooth; his enunciation distinct; 
and his voice firm, mellow, and full of volume 
In his diction there was no stumbling, hurry, or 
trepidation ; no recasting of sentences or retrac- 
tion of words. Ever deliberate and self-pos- 
sessed, he seems to have looked through the 
whole period before he commenced its delivery , 
weighed its several members, marked its em- 
phasis, and measured its })auses. Hence his de- 
livery was smooth and firm,* his emphasis natu- 
ral, and his language flowing 

His gesticulation was pecuhar to himself, but 
was probably the most eflficient agent in that 
wonderful effect which his oratory produced. It 
does not, however, appear to have been very- 
abundant, but always contributed to deepen the 
impression of his magic words. Even the mo- 
tion of a finger or an ordinary change of posi- 
tion was made subservient to the seiitiment 
which he was uttering ; and when the thought 
became grand ; when the emotion of the pat- 
riotic soul within burst out, like lightning from a 
cloud, dazzling, burning, overwhelming ; then 
it was that every muscV., every limb, was made 
.to do its part; that every look, every motion, 
every pause, every start, was filled with the 
thought he was uttering, and the whole man 
seemed to dilate before you. The eye, the voice, 



PATRICK HENRY. 261 

the action were inspired ; and the hearer, lost to 
all around him, saw only the arm of the tyrant, 
the wrongs inflicted on his country, or the dangers 
which threatened the state. 

One of Mr. Wirt's correspondents, who began 
his public career in 1783, when Mr. Henry and 
Mr. Richard Henry Lee were both in the zenith 
of their glory, draws a parallel between them 
which cannot fail to interest the reader. " These 
two gentlemen," he says " were the great lead- 
ers in the house of delegates, and were almost 
constantly opposed. There were many other 
great men in that body ; but as orators they can- 
not be named with Henry or Lee. Mr. Lee was 
a polished gentleman ; he had lost the use of 
one of his hands but his manner was perfectly 
graceful. His language was always chaste, and 
although somewhat too monotonous, his speech- 
es were always pleasing ; yet he did not ravish 
your senses nor carry away your judgment by 
storm. His was the mediate class of eloquence 
described by Rollin in his helles lettres. He was 
like a beautiful river meandering through a 
flowery mead, but which never overflowed its 
banks. It was Henry who was the mountain 
torrent that swept away every thing before it. 
It was he alone who thundered and lightened ; 



262 PATRICK HENRY. 

he alone attained that sublime species of elo 
quence also mentioned by Rollin. 

" It has been one of the greatest pleasures ol 
my life, to hear these two great masters, almost 
constantly opposed to each other, for several 
sessions. I had no relish for any other speakers. 
Henry was almost always victorious. He was 
as much superior to Lee in temper as in elo- 
quence ; for while with a modesty approaching 
almost to humility, he would apologise to the 
House for being so often obliged to differ from 
the " honorable gentleman," he assured them it 
was from no want of respect for him. Lee was 
frequently much chafed by the opposition ; and 
I once heard him say aloutl and petulantly, after 
sustaining a great defeat, that ' if the votes were 
weighed instead of being counted, he should not 
have lost it.' 

" Mr. Henry w^as inferior to Mr. Lee in tne 
gracefulness of his action, and, perhaps, also in 
the chasteness of his language ; yet his language 
was seldom incorrect, and his address was al- 
ways striking. He had a fine blue eye and an 
earnest manner, which made it impossible not to 
attend to him. His speaking was unequal and 
always rose with the subject and the exigency. 
In this respect he differed entirely from Mr. Lee, 
who was always equal and therefore less interes- 



1 



PATRICK HENRY. 263 

ting. At some times Mr. Henry would seem to 
hobble, especially at the beginning of his speeches, 
and at others his tones would be almost disagreea- 
ble ; yet it was by means of his tones and the hap- 
py modulation of his voice that his speaking had, 
perhaps, its greatest effect. 

" He had a happy articulation ; a clear, bold, 
strong voice, and every syllable was distinctly ut- 
tered. He was always very unassuming and very 
respectful towards his adversaries. The conse- 
quence was that no feeling of disgust or animosity 
was ever arrayed against him. He was great at a 
reply, and greater in proportion to the pressure 
that was bearing upon him ; and it seems to me, 
after all the opportunities of observation afforded 
during the period of which I have spoken, that 
the resources of his mind and of his eloquence were 
equal to any drafts M^hich could possibly be made 
upon them." 

Mr. Wirt observes that his action was never 
vehement. " He was never seen rushing forward, 
shoulder foremost, fury in his countenance, and 
phrenzy in his voice, as if to overturn the bar 
and charge the audience sword m hand. His 
judgment was too manly and too solid, and his 
taste too true, to permit him to indulge in any 
such extravagance. His good sense and his 
self-possession never deserted him. In the loud- 



264 PATRICK HENRY. 

est storm of declamation ; in the fiercest blaze ol 
passion; there was a dignity and teixiperanc^i 
which gave it seeming He posspsed tne rare 
faculty of imparting to his hearers all the excess 
of his own feelings ; all the violence and tu- 
mult of his own emotions; all the dauntless 
spirit of his resolution ; and all the energy of his 
soul, without any sacrifice of his own personal 
dignity, and without treating his hearers other- 
wise than as rational beings." 

As a statesman Mr. Henry wanted that pa- 
tient industry, that alertness and consequent ver* 
satihty which attends to every thmg, arranges 
every thing, and dispatches each in its proper 
time and place. He had no great command o\ 
details, and it was oniy on those subiects which 
involved general principles, that he was pre- 
eminently great. Here he stood forth on ground 
w^hich none could approach, and which was 
solely his ow^n ; but when, with the eye of the 
seer, he had looked through some great SMOject 
before other minds could grasp it, and had given 
to it its first mighty impulse, his work was done, 
and on other minds, less brilliant, flevolved the 
task of consummating the projects which his loft- 
ier genius had set in motion. His mind w^as al- 
ways self-poised. There w^as no doubt, no hes» 
tiition no wavering, on any point which he at* 



^ 
PATRICK HENRY. 265 

tempted to advocate. He jumped at his conclu- 
sions by some process which carried with it the 
most entire conviction and the strongest faith. 
As a statesman, this was the preponderating trait 
in his character, and gave him that lofty inde- 
pendence which, sustained by his powerful mind, 
made him a leader in any body of which he 
formed a part. The convictions of his ow'n 
mind were the guide of his life, and no opposi- 
tion, however strong, deterred him from follow- 
ing them with the confidence of inspiration. 

When he first entered the house of burgesses, 
unknown, without influence, w^ithout even con- 
sulting with more than two members, he intro- 
duced those celebrated resolutions which threw 
the colonies into instantaneous commotion, and 
heaved to its centre the power of the British 
throne. When he stood upon the floor of the 
first Congress, in the midst of the greatest intel- 
lects of his time, and the momentous business on 
which they had met seemed to weigh them down 
and fill them with hesitancy and irresolution, the 
voice of Henry dispelled the dreadful incubus 
and nerved their souls to action. When the 
second Virginia convention opened with the 
temporizing policy of petitions, and the minds of 
men were still clinging with false hope to the 
delusive phantoms of reconciliation, it was the 

X 



266 PATRICK HENRY. 

spirit of Henry which arose superior to these de- 
lusions, and it was his inspiring voice which first 
uttered those sublime and never to be forgo-tten 
w^ords, " We must fight ! An appeal to arms 

AND TO THE GoD OF HOSTS IS ALL THAT IS LEFT 

us !" In the same way we behold him leading 
the first military expedition ; advocating, against 
the fiercest prejudices, the return of the British 
refugees and the freedom of commerce ; combat- 
ting, against fearful odds, the adoption of the 
constitution ; and coming forth at the close ot 
his life to sustain the sinking fortunes of a party 
w^hich had awakened his sympathy by the exces- 
sive abuse which had been lavished upon it in 
consequence of measures which he himself had 
disapproved. 

The whole of his career is most extraordinary, 
and exhibits intellectual endowments of no com- 
mon order. We see him in youth wasting his 
time in the most frivolous pursuits ; wandering, 
perhaps, in listless idleness, through the forests, 
or stretched upon the bank of some meandering 
creek and, for days together, watching the mur- 
muring current or angling in its sparkling wa- 
ters. We follow him again behind the counter 
where his negligence and idleness could not fai 
to work his ruin. We behold him baffled upon 
his farm ; sunk in poverty and distress ; negli- 



PATRICK HENRY. 267 

gent of his business, careless of his person, 
thoughtful only for the present moment ; now 
hunting in the fields, and now serving his father- 
in-law's customers at the bar of a tavern. But 
in one fortunate moment he breaks his chains ; 
multitudes hang in breathless silence upon his 
magic words ; in a few short months his voice 
has startled a nation ; his power is felt beyond 
the confines of his native land, and 

" Henry, the forest-born Demosthenes, 
Whose thunder shakes the Philip of the seas," 

is the idol of his native state and the master- 
spirit of a great revolution. 

Mr. Henry had a quick and true discernment 
of character, arising, probably, from the same 
cast of mind which gave him such a wonderful 
prescience in political events. A pleasing ex- 
ample of this has been furnished by Mr. Pope. 
'^ Mr. Gallatin came to Virginia when a very 
young man ; he was obscure arid unknown, and 
spoke the English language so badly, that it 
was with difficuky he could be understood. He 
was engagevl in some agency which made it ne- 
cessary to present a petition to the assembly, and 
endeavored to interest the leading members in 
its fate by explaining, out of doors, its merits 
and justice. But they could not understand him 
well enough to feel any interest either for him 



268 PATRICK HENRY. 

or his petition. In this hopeless condition he 
waited on Mr. Henry, and soon felt that he was 
in different hands. Mr. Henry on his part was 
so delighted with the interview, that he spoke 
of Mr. Gallatin every where in raptures. He 
declared him without hesitation or doubt, to be 
the most sensible and best informed man he had 
ever met with. ' He is, to be sure,' said he, a 
most astonishing manP " Mr. Gallatin has 
since fully sustained Mr. ^enry's high opinion. 
He is, in truth, an astonishing man, and the sa- 
gacity which could thus detect his character, 
under every disadvantage, was of no common 
kind. 

We have spoken of the carelessness and awk- 
wardness of Mr. Henry's youth. These defects 
were, however, corrected in after life. In his 
dress, indeed, he never appeared to be particu- 
larly neat, although, when he filled the execu- 
tive chair, he was very attentive to his appear- 
ance, " not being disposed to afford the occasion 
of humiliating comparisons between the past and 
present governments." At the bar, too, his 
appearance w^as becoming. He wore a full 
suit of black cloth or velvet, and a tie wig, which 
was dressed and powdered in the first style of 
forensic fashion. In the winter season, according 
to the style of the day, he wore over his other 



PATRICK HENRY. 269 

apparel an araple cloak of scarlet cloth. But 
we are disposed, notwithstandirtg these particu- 
lars, to accord with Judge Winston, who says 
that " he was, throughout life, negligent of his 
dress." 

His manners were still simple, unostentatious, 
and frank ; but a long intercourse with the pol- 
ished circles of Virginia had given them a natu- 
ral and unaffected gracefulness, little in accord- 
ance with the descriptions of his bearing at an 
earlier period. On occasions where state and 
ceremony were required, no man knew better 
how to act his part than Mr. Henry. Always 
self-possessed, and at the same time unpretend- 
ing, there was in his whole conduct a fitness of 
time and place, which few men are able to at- 
tain. 

But our simple narrative has already been 
prolonged beyond the limits originally fixed for 
our labors, and we must bring it to a close. And 
in doing so, we would say to the young reader 
that the lofty patriotism, the inflexible virtue, the 
pure morals, the domestic disposition of Mr. 
Henry, are worthy of his study and imitation. 
But at the same time, let him beware of his early 
defects. Above all things let him eschew that 
indolence which was the bane of Mr. Henry's 
early life, and which always stood between hiin 
x2 



270 PATRICK HENRY. 

and the perfection of his greatness. Mr. Henry was 
endowed by nature with powers which few oth- 
ers need hope to possess ; and, while other men 
have been obliged to toil up the ascent of fame 
step by step, he was enabled to dart up appa- 
rently without labor or toil. But had he lived 
in an age of peace and quiet, it is probable that 
his name would never have been heard beyond 
the precincts of his native state. It was the 
stirring theme of liberty that stimulated into ac- 
tion his mighty powers ; that chafed into life his 
dormant energies. Education, study, discipline? 
were not so vitally essential at such a time, and 
Mr. Henry was great without them. 

But let the young reader not be led into error 
by the use of this term. He was not great like 
Washington. When the fitting occasion arose 
to call into action his wonderful powers, he bla- 
zed forth with the brilliancy of a meteor, and 
then sunk back again into comparative night. 
Not so with the father of his country. His 
influence was felt every where and at every 
mome-nt, throughout the long period of his pub- 
lic life. It was like the steady beams of the sun 
which, although they attract less attention than 
the sparkling meteor, penetrate every region, 
and give light and beauty and fruitfulness to the 
world. While the young reader, then, admires 



PATRICK HENRY. 271 

the brilliant career of this remarkaljle man, whose 
eloquent voice was so potent in arousing an infant 
nation to arm against oppression and wrong, let 
him be careful to shun the errors of his earlier 
years, and lay the foundations of his career in hab- 
its of industry, energy and enterprise, without which, 
success, in ordinary circumstances, is not to be at- 
tained, however sparkling the genius or rich the en- 
dowments which nature may have bestowed. 



THE END. 



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